Falling Into Average
by hidden x charade
Summary: Her whole childhood and half her teenage life has revolved around fame. When she decides to take a break from stardom to attend a public high school, will Kairi be able to figure out what it's like to be an average teenager?
1. Daily Life

**NOTE: This chapter has been slightly re-re-edited (updated 6/19/10) to fit the storyline better as it progresses.**

_It has been a long time since I have typed this many words. It feels kind of good, actually. Anyways, trying something different with this story. If you noticed, I deleted the last story I was working on because I knew I was going nowhere with it... Sorry about that. However, I hope people will find some enjoyment in this one!_

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything, but unless there is someone out there typing the same words that I am, I'm pretty sure I own this storyline._

_

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_Have you ever been in a place where, at pretty much every hour of every day, there are people constantly rushing back and forth between buildings and trailers trying to get everything done on time? Or having groups of people always staying by your side, whether they are your bodyguards or the ones that tell you what to say or do when people come asking questions? How about when you are sitting down in a chair and there are about four or five make-up artists circling around your head with their magical crayons at the ready?

Well, that was how my life was on a daily basis. A bit wild and hectic, but there were a few other ways that made it seem quite effervescent.

Unlike a majority of people in the world, I was born into stardom since both my mother and father were big in the entertainment business. My father is a famous actor and my mother is a renowned singer. They met on an airplane when they were both flying to Disney Castle for an awards ceremony, and I suppose they kicked off from there. When my mother gave birth to me, there were apparently hundreds of photographers around that were taking pictures of me outside of the birthing room. I was creatively given the name "The Star of Two Stars" in magazines and newspapers. And that, people, was how I was literally born into stardom.

As I grew up, my father placed me in acting and improvisation classes. I was a bit rocky at first, but after a few days and some pointers from my father, I excelled in both. My father began to see that I had a natural talent for acting, so he got me into the entertainment business. I started off in small children's commercials, but I worked my way into television shows, some B movies, and eventually, movies on the main screen.

When I was out recording a movie, the people that I worked with basically became my friends and for some, my extended family. I was around them almost all the time, and we had to work together as a team to finish the movie in a well-suited manner. After the movie was all said and done with, I usually kept in touch with most of them since there always seemed to be opportunities to collaborate with them once again. It may sound a bit weird, but that was how I made my friends in this world of celebrities and brand name clothes on almost every person you see.

Although acting had become a big part of my life, I always enjoyed the downtime I got with my mother whenever I was not busy (that included whenever my parents weren't busy as well). She and I would go down to the little studio in our basement and have a singing session with all the instruments we have down there. We would mainly play with acoustic guitars, the piano, and the drum set, but there were times when we just sang a capella. I actually have a pretty decent voice, but I will never be able to equal the beautiful powerhouse my mother has been blessed with. However, I have helped her a bit by being the co-writer of a small number of her songs!

The celebrity life might sound all fine and dandy, but there were actually two things that I eventually came to dislike about it. The fame, for one, was probably the most annoying for me. I may have enjoyed it at first, with the paparazzi following me around like lost puppies and photographers snapping pictures of me with every step I took, but I became tired of it. Whenever I just wanted to relax and take some time off from acting (which was quite rare, might I add), I couldn't because there was always a reporter or someone with a video camera trying to capture the footage of me outside of my work. These people were like annoying bunches of flies on the wall that I just couldn't seem to get rid of. The runner-up for things I didn't like would have to be the media. Now, there was nothing much that I really could do about the media, but it had come to the point where us celebrities had to be extremely careful with what we said because there would always be something that the media would interpret as controversial. I mean, we're all human beings. If we, the people of a certain social status, couldn't say it, why could everyone else?

I loved my job, but there were times when I wondered what it would be like to live the life of an average teenager. I would always see them around, hanging out with a bunch of their friends, going to school, telling jokes to each other… All the silly stuff that people say typical teenagers do. I was always curious with what they did, but I could never find out because I had allowed my career to practically consume my life.

Living the life of an average teenager… Back when I was fifteen years-old, I kept thinking: was it completely different than the way I lived mine?

...

"Kairi!" yelled a high-pitched voice behind me. I could hear the flipping and flopping of her slippers as she made her way towards me.

I turned to the voice, and with a smile, I replied, "Hey, Selphie. What's up?"

Selphie Tilmitt, my best friend since I was a six-year-old and considered to be part of my extended family. We were both the same age, though she was born four months before I was. We met in an audition room when we were both trying out for a spot in a children's commercial for hair products. We both got a spot in the commercial, and since all the other kids were too busy drooling or getting their pants dirty, we ended up talking to each other which eventually led to play dates and ultimately us becoming best friends. She was more fond of playing the minor roles whereas I was one of the lead characters. Whenever I was in a movie that she was not part of, she ends up tagging along and becoming one of my 'agents.'

As she reached me, she stopped to bend down and catch her breath. "Where have you been?" she asked between pants.

"Oh, nowhere special," I told her. "Just finished eating up some breakfast at the table."

"You just finished eating?"

"What, is that not normal or something? I mean, it's only ten."

"But they're going to start filming the scene in thirty minutes!" she replied frantically, smoothing out her yellow dress. Her impractical brown hair began to bounce as she said, "The director is going to have a hissy fit if you're late!"

I laughed. "Don't worry, Selphie. I'm not going to be late. Besides, what's the worst the director will do if I happen to be late just this one time?"

"He'll probably burn off your red hair with that cigarette of his! Now come on, I have to get you to the trailer. That's why I came to get you in the first place."

"Aww. You didn't want to come see me on your own free will?"

"I see you all the time, Kairi. Right now, I'm in business-lady mode."

Selphie grabbed my wrist and together we headed off to my trailer. As we were walking, I looked around and noticed that there were many people working today. To my right, several groups of men were rolling in a variety of props into the buildings and a few golf carts drove by with agents and some members of the cast. To my left, my fellow actors and actresses were coming out of their trailers fully dressed in their outfits and walking into the buildings. There were some stragglers, like me, that were still readying their clothes and having make-up applied as they were doing so. How make-up artists are able to apply their paints onto constantly moving people like that, I have no idea, but I sure give them credit for it.

After walking for what seemed like a mile, we reached my trailer and found that my make-up artists, hair stylists, and bodyguards were pacing back and forth nervously. My absence didn't seem to be a big deal to me, so I casually strolled to my trailer while my best friend tried to drag me over.

As Selphie announced my arrival, one of my make-up artists looked up and shrieked, "Kairi Strife! There you are! Oh my gosh, we didn't even think you would come!"

"Rikku, relax!" I said in a calm manner. "It's not like you guys don't get me prepped up in fifteen minutes, anyway."

"Do you know how much we have to do?" asked Yuna, another make-up artist. "For this specific scene, we have to apply eyeliner, lip gloss, mascara…"

"Blush," the last make-up artist, Paine, added in.

"Yeah, and do you know what we have to do with your hair?" filled in my hair stylist, Yuffie, pointing between her and my second hair stylist, Xion. "Since this scene is the royal ball scene, we have to make sure your hair looks fit for a princess!"

"And we have to make sure that your dress fits properly so that you don't trip or mess it up," said Xion.

"Imagine the director's face if you tear that sucker up," said Paine.

"Your jewelry, too!" Rikku chimed back in.

"Oh man, I forgot we even had to do the jewelry!" gasped Yuna.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," I apologized quickly to cease further commenting. "I should have came earlier. Let's get this started shall we?"

"Alright, ladies, let's get this girl prettied up!" ordered Selphie as my group and I headed into my trailer. "Leon, Barret, you know the drill." And with that, the doors were shut and the transformation began.

Rikku Gantly, Paine Lennon, and Yuna Simmons, my make-up artists since I hit the big screen at age eleven. It was my mother who found them when she went to a beauty salon at my home on Destiny Islands. She praised their skills and offered them the job as my team of make-up artists, and I would never have asked for a replacement. They were only a few years older than I was, with Rikku being the youngest at seventeen, Paine in the middle at eighteen, and Yuna being the oldest at nineteen. When I first met them, I used to call them by the color of their hair: Riku was Blondie, Paine was Blackie, and Yuna was Brownie (kind of sounds a bit too immature for someone of eleven years of age, no?). Like Selphie, I considered them to be part of my extended family. I've come to learn that all three of them have been best friends since they were five, and they plan to stay that way for the rest of their lives.

Yuffie and Xion Kisaragi, my hair stylists who were hired around the same time as Rikku, Paine, and Yuna and also considered part of my extended family. Their parents passed away due to a strange illness when they were both young, so they depended on each other as sisters and tried to make a living as street vendors in a place called Traverse Town before moving their business to Destiny Islands. Once again, it was my mother who discovered them as she watched them style their customers' hair. Yuffie was the elder sister, being at age eighteen, and Xion was the same age as Selphie and I, though she was born a month after I was. I enjoyed having my group of make-up artists and hair stylists being around the age I was, for they understood any issues I had and it made my job more enjoyable as an actress.

Squall Leonhart and Barret Wallace, my two bodyguards since age seven and my father's best friends since way back then. Before they became my bodyguards, I've known them as Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret and I continue to call them that to this day. I don't know why Uncle Leon prefers to be called Leon instead of Squall, but I find that the name Uncle Leon rolls off the tongue better than Uncle Squall does. Before my dad became a famous actor, he, Uncle Leon, and Uncle Barret enlisted in the Destiny Islands Army right out of high school for about four years, and all three of them were considered as the best combat fighters around. Unfortunately, in one of the battles against a terrorist threat, Uncle Barret lost his right hand in an explosion, but the doctors were able to suit him up with a mechanical hand that works "just like any regular ol' hand," he would say. Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret may give off the impression that they are some tough-looking dudes, but they are both kind-hearted and are willing to help anyone in times of trouble.

After about twenty minutes of chaotic multi-tasking, my wonderful team of six was able to transform me into a proper princess. Slipping on the heels, I rushed out the door ready to sprint to the set but, lo and behold, Uncle Barret had a golf cart ready for me. Hopping in along with Selphie, Uncle Barrett put the pedal to the metal and drove off at an astounding speed of ten miles per hour.

"Don't mess up!" cheered Yuffie as we drove farther away from my beloved trailer.

"Yeah, don't want ol' director Cid on ya ass again, huh?" chuckled Uncle Barret.

"That wasn't my fault, though!" I argued. "I couldn't help but get jumbled a bit when Roxas forgot a whole line. How did Cid not even notice that?"

"He was probably too preoccupied with his cig at the time," commented Selphie as Uncle Barret pulled into the building where the recording was to take place. "Don't worry about that now, though. We're already here. Do you remember your lines?"

"Yes, Selphie."

"Breath minty fresh?"

I breathed out. "Got that right."

"Your acting will be so good that you'll win the Island Oscar for Best Female Performance?"

"Don't get your hopes up too much. Just playing my part."

"Same response as usual." She helped me off the golf cart, linked her arm through mine, and said, "Let's just try to make this scene as awesome as possible!"

"Easier said than done."

We scurried our teenage legs into the building to find that everything in and around the set was filled with activity. The mechanics and technicians were busy readying machines; the stage designers were rearranging and adding the final touches to the props; the cast members involved in the scene were talking and practicing amongst themselves; and the director and his crew were discussing business amongst themselves.

Amid the director's crew was a moderately tall blonde man with spiky hair. He turned his head towards me and created eye contact, and, after noticing who I was, he excused himself and made his way over.

"You're late," he said as he reached me.

I smiled and replied, "Oh, come on, dad. I'm not that late. It's only been a few minutes."

"A few, huh? Didn't I tell you that being late makes you look bad in the big business?"

"Actually, weren't you the one that said, 'Arriving late is the same as being cool on time'?"

I got him with that one. I could tell because he was scowling. "First off, I'm a professional, you're a rookie. Second, don't listen to the stories your mother tells you."

"Why not? Do they reveal too much of your embarrassing days?"

"Cloud!" yelled a gruffly voice.

"Yeah, Cid?" my dad replied as we all turn our attention to the buff old man walking towards us.

Cid Highwind was the director for the movie, though this wasn't the first time I had him as the guiding man. For two of my past films, he had been my director, and for both of those films, he had his usual cigarette. All people have at least one idiosyncrasy that makes them different than others, and for Cid, it would be his cigarette. At times, when he didn't have one on him, he would use a piece of straw instead. Why he did that, I have no clue, but that's what made him Cid.

"Ah, so she is here," Cid said as he looked at me. "Ya know, Cloud, I always wonder how you and Aerith gave birth to a redhead. You both don't even have any red hair in ya!"

"Mutated baby, I guess."

"Dad!" I whined.

"What? I don't get how you have red hair, either. Anyways, you have to get ready."

"Get ready? I've been ready. I know all of my lines already, dad."

"You messed up last time, though," Selphie said with a smirk.

"Oh, that's right, you did mess up last time!" he said.

"I told you that Roxas skipped a whole line!" I argued like I did with Uncle Barret.

"Great actors always improvise."

"Yeah, but it's not like I actually expected to use improvisation in a scripted film!"

"Alright, Kairi, let's get this show on the road," Cid said, playfully shoving me in the back and leading me over to the set. As I made my way over to settle in with the other cast members, Cid walked up to the center of the set, grabbed the trusty megaphone, and bellowed, "Let's get going, kiddies! We've got lots of things to film!"

And that, my friends, was a typical day in the life of the famous child star, Kairi Strife.

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_-Hmm, not too bad for a start. Hope everything was okay for you guys. I'm writing a majority of the story in first-person narrative (with future Kairi doing the narrating) with some third-person narrative so that you can see what else is happening in the story other than from Kairi's perspective. The story was orginally written in the present tense form, but since I found it difficult to keep that going, I decided to switch back to past tense. Everytime I typed something out, I had to reread it about two or three times to make sure it sounded gramatically correct.  
-I'll try my best to improve my updates. I haven't been doing well with that lately, considering the fact that I actually haven't written anything in what seems like three months. Eek. I believe that's called writer's block?  
_

_Okay, I had enough babbling. Have a wonderful day and enjoy the snow if you got any in your area!_


	2. At Home

**NOTE: This chapter has been slightly edited to fit the storyline better as it progresses.**

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything Final Fantasy._

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_"Hey, you there!" yelled Cid from his high and mighty director's chair. "Yeah, you in the purple sparkles! Add some flair into your dancing! You're not just dancing because we tell you to dance, ya know? Dance so that the audience can feel the energy and happiness of this scene! Dance, dance, dance!"

I sighed. "He always gives out orders or corrections whenever the film is still rolling."

"You know that normally means that we're going to be doing this scene over," laughed Roxas, my dancing partner for this scene.

"We've been doing this scene for the past three hours, though."

"You know him. Has to be perfect."

Roxas Fair was another child star that started in the acting business about two years after I did. He was five months older than I am, and I first met him when he was a guest appearance on my television show when we were both twelve. We have been friends since then, and this was the first time I co-starred with him in a major film. His parents are best friends with mine, for they served in the Destiny Islands Army the same time my father had. I saw Roxas quite often since he and his parents frequently came to visit my family, so I considered him to be part of my extended family.

"Yeah, but if we keep twirling around like this, I think I'm going to be sick," I joked as Roxas spun me around.

"Well, think about it this way," Roxas said. "We were able to get through two other scenes before this one within two hours, so it's most likely that Cid will call it a day soon."

"I hope so. These heels are killing me."

"This prince outfit is cutting off the circulation in my body."

"You clearly seem to be dancing fine, though."

"It's worse than your heels!"

"Are you kidding? It's like I'm doing the waltz with sharp sticks digging into the bottom of my feet!"

"It's not my fault that women decided to make shoes like that."

"All right, all right, that's enough," avowed Cid in a tired manner, causing all of us to stop dancing. "It's hard for me to direct y'all kids when all of you are gossiping about something or the other! I'm tired, you're tired, we're all tired! Let's just pick this up tomorrow."

"I told you so," affirmed Roxas with that silly grin of his plastered on his mouth.

I congratulated him by patting his overly spiky blonde hair and saying, "Atta boy, Rox."

"We'll start the same time tomorrow," stated Cid. "Ya better be dancin' ya ass off tomorrow so we can get through this scene! Hey you, throw me a cigarette, would ya?"

Without further ado, I slipped out of my heels and began to walk over to where my dad, Selphie, and Uncle Barret were standing. Knowing how much I detested heels, Selphie pulled out the set of slippers she carried around with her for me and tossed them on the ground. I slid my feet in and let out a sigh of relief.

"My feet were about to explode," I said as I put the heels on the golf cart.

"They're not all that bad, Kairi," Selphie assured. "Just have to get used to them, that's all."

"I've been putting them on for the past five years, Selphie. If I haven't gotten used to them by now, I don't think I ever will, and I'm not planning on it, either."

"You say that now, but you'll probably end up wearing them more often than you think," said my dad. "Let's just all go back home and relax for the rest of the day. It's been a while since we've taken a break, anyway."

"I'm game. Do you want to come over, Selphie?"

"Considering the fact that I've been staying over at your house for the past three weeks since my parents are oceans apart from me right now, do you really think that's a smart question to ask?" she stated smartly.

It was true. She had been staying at my house for a while now. I just wasn't thinking at the time. "Hey, Roxas!" I shouted as I watch my co-star about to exit the building.

"Yeah?" he simply replied.

"Want to come to my house? Dad's driving us over."

"Sure. I'll be outside your trailer."

As he took his leave, Selphie turned to me and grinned mischievously. "And you say you don't like the boy," she said as we hopped into the golf cart.

"If I say I don't, then I don't," I told her as we drove off with my dad and Uncle Barret.

"But he's almost always at your house! And it pretty much seemed like there was some flirtation going on during that scene."

"He's the best guy friend that I have, Selphie. He's almost always at my house because his family comes to visit a lot. And there was definitely no ring of flirtation around us. We were simply just talking to each other so that we wouldn't get bored with Cid's instructions."

"Your breath doesn't get caught in your throat whenever you see him?"

"Nope."

"Your heart doesn't pound against your rib cage?"

"Nuh uh."

"You don't feel any static electricity flowing through your veins?"

"Selphie, we've been through this already. And no, there is no static electricity flowing through this body."

She sighed. "Sorry. It's just weird to accept the fact that someone as pretty and famous as you are has never had a boyfriend before, nor has she been interested in any of the sexy celebrity guys!"

That was true, though. Throughout my years of fame, I never had a boyfriend. Selphie had tried to hook me up with the occasional beach boy or singer, but I never had any real interest in any of them. Of course she would think that I had developed feelings for Roxas, the only male teen that I basically talk to, but I never felt attracted to him in that sort of way. Even the media had hopped onto the idea of Roxas and I in a relationship a few times because they took some pictures of us together outside of our work. You wouldn't believe what kind of rumors that sparked up.

To be honest, I never really thought of what my perfect guy would have been like. This may sound bad for me to say, but I did want him to at least be good looking. That didn't mean he had to be over-the-top sexy or anything, but at least be in the ranges of cute.

However, I pretty much believed that this potential guy for me would have been someone around my social status. It was just this trust issue I had. I had seen people marry others for their money, not for love. So, if I didn't want to have to worry about money problems, then I thought that it would have made sense to date a guy who didn't have to worry about taking money from his significant other at all.

"Kairi, are you gay?" Selphie blurted out.

Her statement had broken me from my thoughts. "Uh, what?"

"Are you not interested in boys because you prefer the other direction?"

"No, no, _no_, Selphie! I'm not gay! My line is straight, thank you very much."

"Are you sure? You haven't shown any sign of interest in any guy whatsoever!"

"That doesn't make me gay," I said. "It's just, I don't really think the guys I've met are my type. Sure, Roxas is a nice boy and different from the rest, but I don't like him in that way."

"It sounds to me that you like him!"

She was so hopeless. I couldn't help but smile at my best friend's perseverance on the subject.

We reached my trailer and I went inside with Selphie to get changed into my usual combination of shirt and jeans. My dad, Uncle Leon, and Uncle Barret went to go get my dad's car so that we could go straight from the trailer to my house. We all knew how long it would actually take for those three guys to get the car, so my group of girls took their time removing my make-up and getting rid of all the mess they had put in my hair. Selphie kept on bugging me about the whole Roxas issue, and the other females in the room just had to insist on joining in on the conversation and pesturing me about it.

After about thirty minutes, we heard a knock on my door and I opened it to find Roxas standing on the steps along with my dad and Uncle Leon in my dad's shiny Lincoln Navigator. Uncle Barret pulled up behind them in Yuna's Car, which was the Cadillac Escalade that we bought for her as her birthday present the year before. Selphie, Roxas, and I got into my dad's car whereas the rest of the girls went along with Yuna (I forgot to mention that Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Yuffie, and Xion resided in my house. My mom offered it as a bonus with their job).

Heading out from the building (that I also forgot to mention was named Destiny Islands Studios), we drove on the back roads on the mountainside of the island to get to my house. This specific island, which is part of the archipelago that makes up Destiny Islands, is where I was born. It is the biggest out of all the other islands, so it was justly named the Big Island. The people that live on this island are primarily ones with the higher social status, whether it was because of their family history or they have really high-paying jobs. You will find most of the houses either along the mountainside or at the top, and I was one of the lucky ones that lived in a house that had a wonderful view of almost the whole island.

Another advantage this island has over the others was the more advanced society. Here, there are malls, twenty-story buildings, offices, resorts, and amusement parks. Though I had not been to the other islands at the time, my dad went on a few trips to a couple of them and he told me that each island was different. There are a few that are capable of competing with the Big Island in technology, and there are others that don't even use electricity.

I was kind of curious as to what the other islands truly looked like, but I felt quite content with where I was. I thought that the islands were pretty much all the same, anyway: small pieces of land coming out of the ocean with tropical trees scattered all around them.

Since my house was not very far from the studios, we arrived after about twenty minutes of driving and island scenery whizzing by us. Selphie, Roxas, and I hopped out of the car while everyone else went to park the cars in the garage around the back. We walked past the fountain in the middle of the circular driveway and reached the small stairs leading to my front door.

"You know, I can never get over how humongous this house is," Selphie breathed out as she and Roxas ascended the stairs.

Looking up, I realized that I could never really see why Selphie thought of this house as humongous. It was probably because I was already used to its large, almost castle-like size. However, I did think that my house was very beautiful. It was principally made of stone with marble used for the stairs. The Roman columns, which I believed were there just for decoration, protruded from the ground to give the front of the house a powerful but elegant look. The grass was as green as ever, and my mother's love for flowers was apparent for they were planted in a fashionable manner around the circular driveway. A few palm trees stood along the left side of the house, and to the right was a tall stone wall that prevented people from rolling down the steep hill on the other side.

I climbed up the stairs behind Selphie and Roxas and helped them open the tall wooden doors to enter my house. The foyer inside was made up of a double staircase, four hallways with two on each floor going to the left and right side, a grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling above, and a magnificently shiny floor with a burgundy carpet going through the middle leading from the door towards the stairs. A few of the maids and butlers were walking about, carrying trays and cleaning supplies of the like.

One of the butlers took notice of our entrance and, seeing the boy standing next to me, he greeted happily, "Roxas! What's happening?"

"What's up, Axel?" Roxas returned just as happily, pounding fists with him.

"I've been doing alright, man. Just been cleaning up the Strife crib!"

Axel Foxwerth, the second youngest butler of three in the house at age twenty, was hired by my father when he was looking for a job three years ago. He has red hair just like I do, but it was spiky to the extreme. He was very goofy and fun to hang around, but he was also very dangerous and surely wasn't scared of taking risks. When he first met Roxas, the two clicked almost immediately and became the best of friends. He dropped out of high school after his sophomore year when his father kicked him out of the house, but he was actually smart when he was not trying to be a fool.

"Haven't been doing anything reckless, have you?" I asked him.

"Me? Never. I'm a good fella, got it memorized?" Oh, that famous saying of his. It was basically his catchphrase. "Besides, can't be doing anything bad when mama Strife is walking the halls."

"Mom's home?"

"Yeah. Last I saw her, she was in the kitchen."

I felt the excitement coursing through my body. "I want to go see her. Come on, Selphie!" I grabbed her hand then turned to Roxas and said, "Please try not to wreck anything. And if you're going to test out one of your newest 'creations,' I highly suggest you do it somewhere outside so that Larxene doesn't come bite your head off."

I received a mock salute from Roxas. "Yes, ma'am."

Larxene Philn was the youngest of the three maids in the house at nineteen. Unlike Axel, she graduated from high school, but decided not to enter college. She was living in a foster home until my father hired her as a maid. She had a hot temper, but although it took very little to light it, she was fun to be with.

After running through the long hallway and crossing two rooms, Selphie and I arrived at the kitchen to find none other than my youngest butler, Demyx Feddler. He was eighteen years old and had a fascination with guitars (which he had been playing since he was nine and was pretty darn good at it, might I add). He was a bit of a klutz and didn't hang around us much, but he knew that we all loved him.

"Was my mom in here?" I asked him as I scanned the kitchen.

"About five minutes ago," he answered. "I think she went out to the balcony."

"That's all the way on the other side of the house!" Selphie moaned.

"Oh, come on!" I said, dragging her out of the kitchen. "I have to see her. She just came back from her tour!"

As we were running through the hallways, we ran into my other two maids, Lulu Whest and Rinoa Heartilly. Both of them were around the same age as my father, who was in his late thirties. Lulu has been a long time friend of my mother, and after she lost her home due to a tsunami, my mother took her in and Lulu decided to help us out and become a maid. Rinoa is also a friend of my mother's. After her country fell into deep depression and she needed financial help, my mother offered her the job as a maid and a room in the house. She was dating Uncle Leon, and each day I hoped that they would eventually get married! Both Lulu and Rinoa were very kind, and whenever my mother had to go off on one of her trips, they were always there for me.

Along the way, we also ran into my other butler, Tidus Averty, who was twenty-one. It was kind of funny how he ended up in my house. He was dating Yuna, and they had been going out since my mother first hired Yuna as a make-up artist. Tidus was a junior in high school at the time and a complete jock. Since Yuna now had a job that required traveling all over the place, Tidus wanted to stay near her as much as possible. After graduating high school, he found out that Yuna lived with us and sought out my father. For three days, he called and left messages at our house asking to hired for any sort of job that was available. My father, being the kind-hearted person that he is, replied to his calls and gave him the job. He's a pretty hard worker, and whenever he has free time, he and Axel normally hangout in our basement or take a swim in our pool. I would say that I hoped Yuna and Tidus would also eventually get married, but I had to remember that they were not that much older than I was.

We reached the sliding doors to my balcony and sure enough, my mother was there, looking out towards the beautiful blue ocean of Destiny Islands. Excitement began to course throughout my body, and I ended up bursting through the doors, running full speed at her.

"Mom!" I yelled.

She turned around and gave me that motherly smile that I adored so much. "Hello, Kairi," she said before she wrapped me into a hug.

"Hi, Ms. Aerith!" Selphie greeted as she walked up to us.

"Hey there, Selphie."

"How was the tour?" I asked her.

"It was a lot of fun. I had sold out concerts at almost every location!"

"That's so cool! Was it really loud in there?"

"Oh yes, it was. You know, whenever you and your father aren't busy, you should come to one of them. You can come as well, Selphie."

"We would love to!" Selphie and I exclaimed.

My mother smiled at us and turned back to look at the ocean. "It feels like it has been a long time since I've seen these waters."

"There is no beach better than the ones you'll find here at the islands, right, mom?" I said.

"Of course not. You will never find water as blue as this. All the other ones I've seen seem to give off the impression that they're dirty."

Selphie, my mother, and I leaned on the balcony and silently continued to look out towards the ocean. A light, comfortable breeze tickled our faces. The sun was slowly beginning its descent into the horizon since it was nearing the late afternoon.

"Are you up for a singing session, mom?" I asked her, breaking the silence between us.

"How about after dinner?" she replied. "I want to rest up a bit. Where's your father, anyway?"

"He, Uncle Leon, and Uncle Barret were parking the cars in the garage along with the girls. They should be inside the house now."

"Leon and Barret are here? I'll go find them. Knowing those three, they're probably at the bar. You two have fun now, okay?"

"We will," Selphie and I said as my mom headed inside.

"What should we do now?" Selphie asked me.

"Well, I kind of want to chill out with everyone and let my mom and dad have their downtime," I answered with a grin.

She smiled back. "I was thinking the same thing."

We headed back inside and went towards the foyer to find my crew sitting on the staircase chatting amongst themselves. Wondering why they were just sitting there, Selphie and I headed over and asked them what they were doing.

"We were waiting for you guys to see what we should do tonight!" answered Rikku excitedly.

"We have done a lot of things already in this house," Paine remarked. "We have to do something new."

At that moment, Roxas, Axel, and Tidus entered the foyer and made their way towards us.

"Hello there, ladies," greeted Axel.

"And what do you boys want?" Yuna asked them.

"Well, we're bored, so we decided to see what you all were up to."

"That's what we're deciding on," replied Xion.

"We can make our own adventure story!" Yuffie shouted.

We all turned to her, confused. "What adventure story would that be?" Tidus asked for us.

All of a sudden, Yuffie jumped onto the banister. "It will be called, 'The Fantabulous Escapade of the Great Ninja Yuffie."

I had no idea that she considered herself to be a ninja. Actually, no, allow me to rephrase. I had no idea that she even considered herself to be ninja listed as great. Since no one had expected her to say something as strange as that was, we all began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing, other than the fact that you're just plain weird," Selphie joked.

"Is there something that we can do other than having an adventure involving ninjas?" I asked after our laughter calmed down.

"There's always something to do in the basement," Roxas pointed out.

An idea popped into my head. I could see on everyone else's faces that an idea came to their minds as well. If the lights were turned out in the foyer and it was dark outside, you would find ten random light bulbs floating around shining brightly on the staircase.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked as smiles were beginning to form.

"Oh yeah," whispered Axel.

On the count of three, we were all going to yell in unison. One, two, three…

"JAM SESSION!"

Our group of ten ran off down the right hallway towards the basement. Along the way, we began to argue about who got what instrument.

"I call the drums!"

"I want the piano!"

"Hey! I want the piano!"

"Guitar for me!"

"I'll take the bass!"

"Oh man, I don't want the microphone!"

"Kairi, do you own a piccolo?"

"I'll try the violin!"

"Tambourine!"

"Do you have the instrument that looks like a fish?"

I wonder if my parents were ever bothered by the horrendous music we produced that day...

* * *

_-Showing the plus side of Kairi's life. We'll get to the negatives soon. I had fun writing this chapter, and I'm hoping you all had fun reading it!  
-I got a few favorites so far, so I think I'm doing okay! It would be helpful to know what you all think in some reviews, but I'm not going to force you to do that... But, they are nice... Haha.  
-In a way, I guess it was a good thing to get snowed in since I'm now typing up chapters and updating stories. Then again, this is making my life a bit boring, just sitting here in the basement with my computer. Oh well. It's better than doing my history homework._

_Thank you all for tuning in, and I hope to see you again! Next chapter coming soon..._


	3. Simple Things

**NOTE: This chapter has been slightly edited to fit the storyline better as it progresses.**

_DISCLAIMER: Not a thingy thing thing._

_

* * *

_After three more strenuous weeks of having my face caked in make-up and acting through scenes for seven hours each day, we finally finished the film. And the best way I chose to celebrate? Drive the golf cart like a maniac and run giddily into the trailer.

"Finally!" I screamed as I bursted through the doors, surprising my crew. "We're done with this film. Done, I say! Done!"

"Everything went well?" Yuna asked as she sat me down to remove the make-up.

"Yes! All they have to do now is add the finishing touches."

"Any news on the official trailers?"

"They told us that they'll get them done within the next week or so. I have no idea what they're going to look like."

"They'll probably knock everyone's socks off!" affirmed Selphie.

"What if they're not wearing any socks?" asked Rikku.

Paine scoffed. "Their toes will stick up in overloading excitement."

"I really don't care about what they're going to do about the trailers at the moment," I put out there. "I'm just glad we finished the darn thing!"

"Phew," Yuffie said, pretending to wipe sweat off her brow. "Good thing it's finished. I thought our whole summer was going to be taken up from all this filming you do!"

"Yeah, since the last movie Kairi was in took away the spring and the summer of last year," added in Rikku.

"It wasn't that big of a movie," I replied. "It's not like this movie was finished any faster than the last one, either."

"Sure it was! It was finished before the summer ended this time!"

"You make summer sound so important. It's just like any other day of the year."

Everyone in the room, except for Selphie and I, gasped. They looked at each other frantically, seemingly not knowing what to say.

"Um, did I say something wrong?" I said, trying to bring them back into the conversation.

"Have you ever experienced summer vacation?" asked Yuffie as she combed out my hair.

"We've been to the beach," said Selphie. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

"No, not just that!" exclaimed Rikku. "Summer isn't always about going to the beach. It's the season of relaxation, of relentless summer and tanned beach boys! It's the time when you take your friends and go on crazy road trips to the middle of nowhere and get lost! It's the time when you go out and soak up as much sun as you can! It's the time that every teenage girl waits for!"

I kept telling myself that I could have cared less about whatever summer vacation they were talking about.

"Don't you look forward to the summer at all, Kairi? Selphie?" asked Yuna.

"The only thing I look forward to is getting my business done," I answered. "And whenever I finish one thing, I move onto another."

"Same here," agreed Selphie. "I might not be a big superstar like Kairi, but I have a lot of business to deal with, too."

"Besides, we take road trips all the time," I included. "We have to travel from place to place to deal with our careers, whether they are interviews, charity events, talk shows, or places where we're supposed to be filming at."

Xion sighed. "It's not the same as the road trips you take on summer vacations," she said.

"The same? Of course it's not! It's probably way better. The places we go to are beautiful and have lots of things to do. You get the best resorts and the people there treat you like royalty. Sure, you've got the occasional annoying photographers, but everything else is pretty good!"

"She doesn't understand," Paine stated.

When they were done removing my make-up and putting my hair back to normal, I walked over to my closet and pulled out a pair of beige shorts and a white camisole. "Well, since summer seems to be that important to you and you don't want it to go to waste, how about we go out into the city?"

They all looked at each other in confusion and worry. I felt bothered by their expressions.

"I thought you didn't like going into the city?" Selphie questioned.

"I said that?"

"Uh huh, when people were taking pictures of you when we were walking through the street," answered Xion. "You said that you just couldn't get a break anywhere from anyone."

"That was a long time ago, though! Moreover, I haven't gone out much since I've been filming and handling all this business agency stuff. People may have already forgotten about me by now."

"I doubt that. There was a commercial three nights ago saying that you were going to star on the Late Night Show next week."

"Oh yeah, they surely forgot about you," said Paine sarcastically.

I breathed out in frustration. "Okay, I get it already. Can't we just go out? Who knows, maybe they won't bother me today."

"You sure you don't want to go someplace else that will give you less attention?" asked Yuna.

"I'm completely sure." I made sure that I exaggerated each syllable.

"If you want to go out, maybe you should wear stuff that people won't recognize you in," recommended Selphie. She dug into the closet and pulled out two objects. "Here. Wear this sun hat and glasses. It's not a huge cover-up, but they probably won't be able to tell who you are from afar as long as you cover up that red hair of yours."

"Might as well give it a try." I grabbed my purse and put on my disguise items and said, "Let's get going before my dad comes to pull the trailer away."

"I hope this turns out okay," I heard Rikku say behind me.

...

They just had to insist on rolling the windows down in the car. I would say that I tried to save them the blame by claiming that they had forgotten that they were driving around someone with a hat that she wasn't allowed to take off, but I felt annoyed. It was embarrassing having people look at me with both of my hands trying to keep the hat on my head! Nevertheless, no one had pointed any fingers at the car and had their mouths drop to the floor in shock yet. I guess that meant my disguise was working.

I looked outside and, through my ultraviolet radiation protection glasses, saw many people out and about that day. It was very typical to see many citizens and island goers out on the street, especially since the weather was really nice and the island was the ultimate attraction site for tourists. I watched as children held hands with their parents walking down the street, reminding me of how my father was able to do that with me on the rare occasions that he was home (he is a wonderful father, don't get me wrong; it was just hard for him to be home all the time). A bunch of teenagers were walking in large groups eating ice cream, talking on their cellular devices, or just having fun.

"I feel bad for ya, Kairi," said Yuffie out of the blue.

"What makes you say that?" I asked her, turning away from the window. "There's nothing to feel bad about."

"Don't you think it's tough having to hide yourself like this so that you can just go out and relax a little without having people bother you?"

"Eh, kind of, but I've grown accustomed to it."

"Tough life for a teen," Paine stated from the shotgun seat.

"I agree," declared Rikku. "Kairi, you're only fifteen. I don't know about you, but hiding yourself so that you can go out in peace totally sucks! You need to be a free bird! Flap your wings and live your life!"

I felt confused when she told me to 'live my life.' I was already high up on the food chain of fame; people would have killed to be in my spot (they had said so in their blogs). I kept thinking, wasn't my life the best it will ever get to be?

"Flap your wings?" Paine repeated.

"It comes with the statement, Pizzle."

"Pizzle?" Yuffie said.

"Got a problem with it, ninja?"

"Yuffie's a ninja?" Yuna asked.

"Is today 'Question What Rikku Says' day?"

And to that, we all sighed. "Every day is 'Question What Rikku Says' day," I answered for everyone.

After passing two malls and brand name stores, we pulled up at the end of the street into a dining restaurant called Paopu Waters by the docks. It wasn't one of those full meal restaurants where people could order a rack of baby back ribs and a side order of mashed potatoes, but it was a pleasant place where you could just sit down and get a small bite to eat.

At the front entrance, a waitress came out and asked us where we wanted to sit. I told her that I enjoyed the outdoors, so she took us over to their outdoor dining area that gave us a nice view of the docks. We took a seat and began to scan the menu.

"You sure being outside is a good idea?" Xion asked me.

"I thought you guys wanted to soak up as much sun as possible?" I said. "So, here we are, outside, soaking up some sun!"

"Yeah, but, you're more prone to being recognized out here than you are inside."

"No one has come up to ask me for my autograph yet, have they? We'll be fine. And besides, people will probably look at me weird if I kept the hat and sunglasses on indoors."

The waitress came back out, took our beverage orders of paopu juice, and headed back inside. A few seconds later, she brought out the drinks and we all took a nice, long sip of the enticingly sweet goodness.

"What in the world is a paopu, anyway?" I asked.

"I heard that the fruit originated from one of the neighboring islands," responded Yuna. "It exists only on that particular island, though. I have no idea which one it is."

"Legend says that if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined," shared Selphie. "They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."

"Sounds so romantic!" expressed Rikku as she slurped up her drink. "I wonder if people on that island use that fruit to express their undying love for someone!"

"By opening up a velvet box and finding that there's a fruit inside?" I said. "That idea just sounds weird, if you ask me."

"I think it's kind of cute," said Xion.

"Say, now that I think of it," muttered Yuffie, examining the drink. "If that legend is true and this restaurant used one paopu fruit to make our orders, does that mean it's affecting us?"

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, we are sharing the same drink."

I never had thought about it that way. We all looked down into our drinks. Our heads simultaneously came back up and we looked at each other with different sorts of thoughts swirling in our heads. All at once, we bursted out into laughter.

"Looks like our destinies have become intertwined, Paine!" Rikku joked. "We're going to stay together forever!"

Paine's laughter ceased. "Don't push it."

"I guess that makes you mine, Selphie!" Yuna laughed.

"And you are mine," Selphie jokingly flirted back.

"Ah, what a life!" exclaimed Yuffie. "I'm out here on Destiny Islands spending a wonderful day of summer vacation with my greatest pals!"

We came back on the subject of summer vacation once again. My annoyance level increased. "Why are you calling it summer vacation?" I asked. "It's just a day of relaxation."

"Oh, that's right, you don't believe in summer vacation," joked Rikku.

"It's not that I don't believe in it. I just don't know why you keep calling it that."

"To simply put it, you're a superstar," Paine said. "You're incapable of feeling the thrills of the simple things in life."

"That's more of a harsh way to put it than simple," Yuna said.

"Well, it's true."

Okay, so maybe I understood a little bit of what Paine said, but how does feeling thrilled with simple things have anything to do with a summer vacation? That's what I kept asking myself. Rikku said that summer was about getting tan, meeting tanned boys, and going on road trips. I wondered if those 'simple things' they were mentioning were supposed to be thrilling.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to clear my thoughts.

"The simple thrills in life!" said Rikku happily.

"Such as…?"

Stars began to sparkle in Rikku's eyes. "The thrill you get when the hottest, most popular guy in school asks you out! Or getting a handshake or smile from someone you've never met before!"

"The thrill you get when you get an A on a super hard science test!" added in Yuffie. "Or, when school is nearing its end and summer vacation is right around the corner!"

"Sneaking out at night and trying not to have people catch you," Paine included.

"Jumping into a huge pile of autumn leaves!" said Rikku. "Feeling the wind blow in your hair while you bike, skipping stones in a river, hiking a tall mountain for the view at the top, building something so cool that you can't take your eyes off it…"

"Going off a cliff into a river," Yuffie filled in, "watching the sun rise or set, dancing in the rain, receiving your first kiss, singing at the top of your lungs in an open field, going to one of the biggest games of the season…"

You probably couldn't even imagine all the thrills they came up with; the list just seemed to keep going and going. I felt my eye twitching.

Xion must have sensed this. "What she means is that you're so caught up with your famous life that you're unable to enjoy the other things around you," she said.

"But I enjoy a lot of things!" I told her.

"Kairi probably needs a better explanation," said Yuna. She was on the dot with that one. "Let's start off in a different way. What excites you the most?"

I thought for a second. "Earning an award for something."

"Is there anything else that excites you?"

"Well, there's finishing a film after months of recording, getting an interview, and earning a role after a tough audition."

"How about something else besides your acting career?" asked Yuffie. "Is there anything on the outside that you have felt excited about?"

To be frank, I found that to be a tough question. If I had been sitting in an interview on some late night show and the host asked me that question, I would have been dumbfounded and would not know how to answer that. I would have probably looked like a suffocating fish with my mouth opening and closing.

Having Yuffie ask me that question made me dig really deep into the memory storage in my brain. It also got me thinking... Had I really not done anything outside of my acting career? Had my life been consumed so much that I didn't do anything with my life besides acting? The things that I had done that I thought meant everything… Did it truly mean that I had done nothing at all? That was basically what I thought they were saying.

It just didn't make any sense to me, though. I had people come up to me and tell me how much they wished to do the things that I had done. They told me how they wanted their lives to be just like mine. They told me that I was lucky. I heard people say that they were jealous of my life. If Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Yuffie, and Xion were saying that I had not done anything truly exciting in my life, then what other exciting stuff was out there if people wanted to experience the things that I had?

Still, I needed to answer the question. Since there was nothing that I could honestly think of, I just went with, "I—I don't know,"

"There are times when I wonder if you're too young for this sort of life, Kairi," said Yuna. "Same goes for you too, Selphie."

"What do you mean we're too young?" spoke Selphie. "There are a lot of other celebrities our age, and there were many before us as well."

"Have you seen what they've become, though?" asked Rikku. "They've broken down and regret not being able to enjoy the fun life of being a kid or teenager! When the celebrity life took away their possibilities of feeling the joys of being young, it tore them down in the future."

"We don't want that to happen to you two," voiced Xion.

Seems like they cared about us, huh?

"And just who, exactly, has broken down and become a mess up in the future?" I asked.

"Lindsay Lohan," said Paine.

"What do you suppose we do?" asked Selphie.

"Go out and live your life, that's for sure," said Yuffie. "Party hard and rock n' roll!"

"Take a break from the celebrity life for a start," Yuna recommended. "That way you both can have fun to the fullest extent."

"Maybe we should start by getting some more drinks," I said, taking my hat off and fanning myself with it. "Is it me, or is it getting hotter out here?"

"Um, Kairi, you probably shouldn't do—"

"Oh my god, is that THE Kairi Strife?" I heard someone yell from the sidewalk. Along with that came other gasps, the unzipping of purses, the dialing of cell phones, and the snapping of pictures.

"She's eating at my favorite dining place!" I heard another person yell.

Our waitress and a bunch of her other serving buddies suddenly came out with a notepad and knelt down at my side. "Gosh, I had no idea that I was serving Kairi Strife this afternoon!" she said. "If it doesn't trouble you, may I please have your autograph?"

I pretty much believed that my hand could have suffered from arthritis that day from signing so damn many notepads and pieces of paper.

I probably should have taken the girls' worry for me going out into the city as a sign for a potential bad day. I just couldn't seem to have a day where I didn't have people crowding around me constantly asking questions and taking snapshots of me for their photo albums.

But, there was something new that I could take from that day.

Those 'simple thrills in life' that they were mentioning… I wondered what it was like to experience them.

* * *

_-Another quick update! Woohoo! Go me! Like I always say, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We're slowly working our way into the story. I'm planning on having next chapter being told through a different perspective, so there's a good chance that we won't be hearing it from a first-person narrative.  
-Still have my area covered in a really thick blanket of snow... My body is worn down from all that darn shoveling I've done. It's hard trying to dig out three cars._

_Thanks to the people favoriting and putting this story on their alert list! And a special thanks to my two reviewers :) I was really happy to see some feedback. Next chapter, hopefully coming soon._


	4. Ordinaries

**NOTE: This chapter has been slightly edited to fit the storyline better as it progresses.**

DISCLAIMER: If I did own, I wouldn't even bother typing any of this.

_

* * *

_Though the beaches were essentially its biggest attraction, there were other aspects of Destiny Islands that truly made them beautiful. Hidden away from the eyes of the tourists by the ostensibly endless trees sat the lakes, one of the wonders of the islands. The lakes resembled the looks of gigantesque mirrors planted in the ground, reflecting every detail of the sky above and the environment on the lakeside. Rocks were visible along the shoreline and underneath the shallow waters until they disappeared into the deeper depths of the lakes.

The lakes were normally quiet and seemingly untouched since the only visitors were either the native islanders or, on rare occasion, a hiker heading towards one of the mountains on its northern side. There were small rivers attached to its sides dispersing into the forests, its only connection with the outside world. With virtually no one to awe, the lakes, for the most part, were lonely.

However, on one of the islands, there was one lake that was quite happy with its frequent visitor.

A young boy, looking about almost halfway through his teenage years, sighed as he picked up a small rock. He threw it into the water and watched as it freely skipped along the water's surface until it sunk a far distance out, leaving tiny ripples of water in its wake. The image from the lake's reflection began to tremble from the sudden movement of the water. Not very content with how far it went, he ran his hand through his gravity-defying brown hair before picking up another small rock, tossing it in his hand.

'_Let's see how far out this one goes_,' he thought.

He swung back his arm and threw it at an angle into the water, watching as the rock skipped longer and faster than his previous throw. The ripples of water left behind were more prominent, and the rock seemed to bounce slightly higher than before. After going about a quarter of the lake's distance out, the rock finally plopped into the water.

He smiled to himself. '_I believe that's a new record._'

Picking up another rock, he was about to throw it into the lake until the sound of feet hitting dirt reached his ears.

"Sora!" called a voice behind him.

Said boy turned his head, grinning as he saw who called his name. "Hey, Riku."

The other boy, now known as Riku, walked up next to his friend and picked up a small rock of his own. He was about a head taller than Sora, with shoulder-length silver hair and very defined muscles.

"Thought I'd find you out here," he said, skipping the rock into the water.

"Got to visit this place a lot before school starts up again," replied Sora. "Probably won't be able to come out here as often."

"How come your sister doesn't come with you anymore?"

"She took a job as a waitress down at the small diner from nine to twelve. She started yesterday."

"That early? What about when school starts?"

"She'll take the later shift right after school. I think that will run from two-thirty to six. Since I work the night shift over at the surf shop, we had to make sure our schedules were different since someone has to watch the house."

Riku sighed. "Even though it has been two years, it's still hard to believe that your parents died in that accident."

"Yeah. There's still that feeling of emptiness around the house, but it's not so bad anymore. And besides," Sora said, turning towards his taller companion, "I've got a best friend and a good sister to help me through the days."

Riku smiled at him. "And you will always have a best friend and a good sister."

After skipping a few more stones, the two boys looked up towards the sky to see the sun nearing its peak, signaling that it was an hour away from striking noon.

"Let's go pay her a visit," suggested Sora.

"Would it be okay to bother her?" asked Riku. "Your sister just got the job yesterday. Don't want her to possibly lose it because we went to annoy her."

"Nah, we're not going to annoy her. Not yet, at least. Just go see how she's doing."

They exited the lake by following one of the small rivers through the forest. Along the way, the two boys playfully pushed and joked with one another, with the ruffling of the hair and the pretend sword fighting by using a pair of random sticks on the ground. Once they came out of the forest, they ran through a small neighborhood and made their way onto a market street where it was modestly filled with activity. A few cars were rolling by, but most of the people were walking up and down the streets, saying hello to friends and being window shoppers.

Sora and Riku walked about halfway down the road until they reached a small diner sitting next to a walkway that connected to the beach. The diner, which had a fairly large sign saying "The Barrel" on it, looked a bit run down from age, but many people (particularly the young folk) were found sitting around it with a few drinks and trays of food in their hands.

The two boys stepped inside the shack and headed over to the stools at the bar. Many windows adorned the walls, allowing the customers to have a good view of the beach. There was a door on the north wall that gave entry to the outdoor dining area, where most of the people liked to sit during the almost consistent sunny days that the islands bring.

At the bar, Sora and Riku chatted idly about the upcoming school year until a gruff-looking middle-aged man with an eye patch came up to them, rubbing a cloth around the insides of a glass.

"Ah, it's you two damn rascals again!" he said in a facetious manner.

"What's up, Xigbar?" greeted Riku.

"I'm guessin' you want the usual?"

"Yep. Two virgin strawberry coladas."

The bartender, Xigbar, went over to a small cabinet and pulled out a small bag of strawberries, a medium-sized bottle filled with a white liquid, and the remnants of a pineapple. After getting a good measurement of each, he stuck the ingredients in the blender for two minutes until the contents inside became one smooth liquid. Evening them out into two tall glasses and adding a strawberry on top to each, he slid the two finished drinks over to Sora and Riku.

"One day, you two are gonna trick me into puttin' in an alcohol of some sort into those drinks," stated Xigbar.

"No need to think so low of us!" joked Riku.

"What? All them teenagers keep doing that to me these days. I never catch on until after I give 'em the drinks."

"How's Naminé doing?" asked Sora, taking a sip out of his strawberry colada.

"Oh, your sister? She's doing a fine job, considering the fact that she's only a rook around here." He pointed towards the outdoor dining area. "She works the outdoors and been firing meal orders left and right to the chefs in the back. Only problem is that she needs to build some muscle so that she won't have to worry about strugglin' with them trays."

"I warned her about that when she first applied here."

"I'm surprised she's even able to talk with the customers," Riku said. "She's normally the shy type when it comes to new people."

"There's nothin' to worry about with Naminé," reassured Xigbar. "It took her a little while for her to open up to the customers. And for now, she's having other people bring the food out to the customers until she's able to carry 'em out herself."

At that moment, a young blonde teenage girl opened the door from the outside and headed over to the bar, wiping some of the sweat off from her forehead. Her strikingly blonde hair was held up in a ponytail with a cap resting atop her head. She was wearing a casual outfit with a white shirt that had a big picture of a barrel in the middle.

"I need three daiquiris, one being a virgin," she requested, looking at Xigbar.

"Comin' right up!" replied the bartender.

"Liking the job, Naminé?" asked Sora, smiling at the blonde girl.

Hearing her name, Naminé turned to the source of the voice and smiled back. "Sora! And Riku, too!" she exclaimed. "Didn't expect to see you guys here!"

"There's nothing wrong with checking in on my favorite younger sister, is there?"

"I am your only sister. And my shift ends in about fifteen minutes, anyway. You could have waited until then!"

"For someone as shy as you are, you're quite chipper today," mentioned Riku.

"It's just the energy from the job. It'll most likely die down when I take off."

Xigbar slid over the three requested drinks. "Alright, Naminé. Three daiquiris, one being a virgin," he repeated to her.

"Thanks, Xigbar. Are you two going over to the island?"

"I think Riku and I will just sit here and talk with Xigbar until you're finished," said Sora. "There's not a whole lot to do today."

"Okay, I'll see you then!" And she took her leave.

"I've never seen her this energetic before," commented Riku as he took a long sip of his strawberry colada.

"This job is probably bringing out a whole different side of her," expressed Sora. "But it's good to see that her smile has made its way back onto her face again."

Xigbar came back over to the two with a remote, pushing a few buttons that were changing the channels on the television hanging on the ceiling a few feet away from them. "How are you and Naminé faring, Sora?" he asked. "I know it's been two years already, but having parents die on ya like that is pretty rough."

"It was rough, but we've been able to get through it. We've got some good friends around us that help keep our minds off things like that."

"Speakin' of your friends, where has that trio been? Haven't seen them around lately."

"They're visiting their hometown to see some old friends," answered Riku.

"Went back to Twilight Town, eh?"

"Yeah. I think they're coming back a week before school starts."

Sora's eyes bulged out in surprise. "They're going to be gone for that long?"

"I thought that's what Hayner said at your sixteenth birthday party back in January?"

"You're listening to Hayner?"

As Xigbar continued to flip through the channels, the sight of red hair caught his attention. "Hey, you two, check this out," he said, interrupting Sora and Riku's conversation. "It's that celebrity girl from the Big Island that everyone keeps talkin' about. I think she's got a new movie coming out soon."

"Who, Kairi Strife?" asked Sora.

"Sora's favorite actress, you mean?" teased Riku, receiving a playful punch from his friend.

"Yeah, the redheaded one, I think. The one that's about your age," stated Xigbar. "It's a commercial. Looks like she's going to be on the Late Night Show tonight."

"That lucky girl," said Sora. "She doesn't even need to go to school. She has all this free time to do whatever she wants."

Riku huffed. "Yeah, doing all the stuff snobby celebrity kids do."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, what do you expect? She's a superstar, and she's been one since she was a little girl. Of course she's going to think that she's better than any of us out here!"

"She doesn't seem to be a stuck up kind of person."

"Ha! Her life probably consists of spending money, filming a movie, spending money, and spending even more money. Hell, she probably has people go out and buy things for her! I bet that girl doesn't even know how to ride a bike."

Sora chuckled. "Dang, you make her sound like a bad person."

"Until I meet her, she's going to come across to me as just another celebrity: a person all caught up in her glamorous life."

"Well, if she likes her life as much as you think she does, then we'll never get to meet her. From what I've heard, she has never set foot onto any of the islands but the Big Island. The only time she travels is when she has to go out to one of the foreign places far away from here."

"That probably means that she's too good for the other islands."

After a few more minutes of conversing, Naminé walked through the door, taking her hat off and letting her hair down. She made her way over to where Sora, Riku, and Xigbar were talking and sat down next to her brother.

"I'm done now, right, Xigbar?" she asked, placing her hat on the bar.

"If your shift is supposed to end at noon, then yeah, you're done," Xigbar said. He pulled out a clipboard from under the bar. "Just sign your name here and write what time ya ended, and you're free to go."

Naminé took the clipboard and looked at it, a worried expression forming onto her face. "Um, there's a lot of different lines and scribbles here."

"Just sign your name. It doesn't matter what line you put it on. It's not like it's gonna be hard for us to figure out."

"Oh, alright." She signed her name, wrote down the information necessary, and handed it back to Xigbar. "So," she started, turning to Sora and Riku, "what's on the agenda today?"

"Like I said before, there's not a lot we can do," replied Sora.

"Why not? You two always come up with some crazy ideas."

"Well, since someone is going to be turning fifteen at the end of the month, why don't you decide on what we do today?" suggested Riku.

"Then let's go to the beach! I've been wanting to find some inspiration for my new painting."

"But you've made plenty of paintings about beaches!" exclaimed Sora.

"I didn't say I was going to paint a beach. I just need to find something that inspires me."

He sighed. "Alright, then. The beach it is."

* * *

_-And in comes some of the other characters! Yeah, sorry if it's a bit shorter than the others. I wasn't planning on going into a whole lot of details in this one.  
-I don't know why, but it took me quite a while to start on this. Next chapter is probably going back to Kairi. And just to let you know, Kairi and Sora probably won't be meeting for another few chapters or so... I've got a few other stuff I want to work in before they meet, like how Kairi reacts around other celebrities, how she's treated when she's out shopping, etc. And there are a few other facts about Sora and Riku's life that I want to reveal as well so there won't be confusion in the long run.  
-I am still stuck in this snow! And you know what? It just started snowing again today. How about we just cancel school for the rest of the week? Or the rest of February? I would enjoy that a great deal. I can get a lot of stuff done and be lazy at the same time._

_Thanks again to my two reviewers, a few extra favorites, and a story alert :) It is giving me the motivation I need to keep this going!_


	5. Tiff

_BEFORE WE BEGIN, I just wanted to let you know that there have been some minor changes in the previous chapters. I reread them and edited them in a way that might help me allow the storyline flow better in the future. There aren't any huge changes, but, well, there are some slight differences._

_It has been forever and a day, hasn't it? I am so sorry about that. I would try to excuse myself out of it, but I'm pretty sure none of you would truly care. Anyways, here is the fifth chapter. I'll inform you now that there really is no theme to this chapter. It's just a progression in the story. I originally planned to have something significant happen, but due to my prolonged absence, I just wanted to get something up for you guys to read and let you know that I'm alive in the world._

_DISCLAIMER: Nada is mine.  


* * *

_On the Late Night Show the previous day…

"_Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Late Night Show!" announced the female host, which resulted in lots of cheers and whoops from the audience. "Thanks to all those who are tuning in tonight. We'd like to mention that this show is proudly sponsored by none other than the popular Fashion Destiny and Island Wares stores here on the Big Island. We'd also like to thank all the donors and participants from our fundraising event last weekend. All of you were a great help and we appreciate all that you've done for us._

"_Tonight, we will be discussing the topics of the current political rumors going around, why parents say the things they do, the reason behind the recalling of several toys and medicines, and 'sexting.' We also have a special performance near the end of the show by the incredible band, Rasta Fam!" Everyone started to cheer again, this time including the chant, 'Rasta! Rasta! Rasta!'_

"_All right, all right, people, simmer down," said the host, quieting the enthusiastic crowd. "But, before we get into all of that, we have a guest appearance tonight! This girl has been a star since she learned to crawl, and now has a movie coming out this upcoming winter season! Probably Destiny Islands' most famous teenage girl, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ms. Kairi Strife!"_

_At the left side of the stage, a door opened revealing the redheaded teen, smiling and waving to the exuberant crowd. She walked over to the middle towards the show host where the host sat opposite a long couch. Taking a seat on the lone couch, Kairi waved one more time and laughed when she heard people cheering her name._

"_It is a great pleasure to have you here tonight, Ms. Kairi," greeted the host when the audience was finished with their applauding._

"_It's an honor to be here," replied Kairi. "And please, just call me Kairi."_

"_Too young for the 'miss' title, eh?"_

"_No, I'm just not used to people calling me Ms. Kairi."_

"_Got any nicknames?"_

"_Nope. I've just been called Kairi so far."_

"_So, Kairi, enlighten us. How does it feel to be a celebrity, especially being someone of your age? Not a lot of kids get the opportunity to feel the fame before they even get to high school."_

"_I've been this way since I was about six years old, so I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. At first, I was excited because I was going to be a big girl and 'do all the things daddy does,' as my mom had said it. But then, after a while, I just got used to it. It's basically the air I breathe now."_

"_Do you get any breaks at all?"_

"_Not really. I did get to go to the beach one time with my best friend, Selphie, but that's about it. I'm constantly working. I would have to go to a photo shoot here, then go to an interview there, then represent some product over there, and other stuff."_

"_Hear that, adults?" called the host to the audience. "She's got it worse than we do." Few people could be heard laughing and making humorous comments on the matter. "Tell us about that new movie of yours coming out. What do you think about it?"_

"_Oh, I think it's going to be pretty good. It's called 'Nights Out On Vaire Street.' It's kind of like a take on Romeo and Juliet. It's about this princess named Jane, played by me, and how she falls in love with a prince named Wesley, whose family is Jane's family's rival. Since their parents don't like each other, the only time Jane and Wesley can meet is during the nighttime when they can sneak out, hence the title of the movie. Then people start becoming suspicious of the two, and the story becomes more intense from there."_

"_That sure does sound like a take on Romeo and Juliet. I understand that Mr. Roxas Fair is playing the part of Wesley, am I correct?"_

"_Yep, that's right!"_

"_Teen takeover, I tell ya! Having two teens claim major roles in a film like that is a pretty big deal."_

"_Compared to other movies that we've had roles in, this is probably the biggest one for us."_

"_Well, one thing is for certain, we're all going to see 'Nights Out On Vaire Street,' right, everyone?" The audience applauded to show their agreement. "Let's get back to the subject on your childhood since that's what most people seem to be interested in when it comes to celebrities. You said that you didn't start doing anything big until you were six, right?"_

"_Yes."_

"_So, what was it that you did during those baby years?"_

"_As far as I can remember, my maids watched over me most of the time since my parents were away on their tours and trips. My dad placed me in acting and improv classes to use up some of my spare time."_

"_They have acting and improv classes for children that young?"_

"_I suppose so. It's not like I had anything better to do."_

"_Wow. I think I just learned something new here. What did you do when the maids were watching over you?"_

"_Um, not a whole lot, really. I slept a lot, and whenever I was awake, I would watch those infant shows or draw. They told me that I used to dance and sing on a constant basis."_

"_So, you're basically telling us that you never got to feel the childhood experience?"_

_Mix a confused expression and a slightly awkward smile together, and you've got Kairi's face. "Childhood experience…?"_

"_You don't know what the childhood experience is? Hey audience, help me tell this girl what wonderful things make up a great childhood!"_

_From left and right, floor to ceiling, shouts of different activities and names of toys were directed towards Kairi. Some people stood up on their feet and physically expressed their opinion on what mattered the most during their childhood days. There were so many different voices coming out at once, and Kairi was having a difficult time interpreting what everyone was saying, let alone making her head spin._

"_You seem surprised," laughed the host._

"_There are so many different things that people are saying," said Kairi. "I can't understand all of them."_

"_Here, I'll sum it up for you. Basically, there are a lot of small, fun little things that people can only do when they are kids. These are the things that they want to hold onto as a memory for when they get the wrinkles going on up on their forehead, and when they do think back on these things, it makes them smile because those were the moments that made them happy as children. It's something that everyone can relate to."_

"_My childhood wasn't all that bad. I had good, trustworthy people watching over me and did everything I wanted to do in the house."_

"_Which was what, watch TV and doodle? Kairi, honey, you missed out on the thrills of childhood!"_

_Kairi laughed. "My friends told me that I'm missing out on the thrills of life. This whole situation seems to be connected."_

"_And it's true! All right everyone, close your eyes and go to reminiscent mode. Kairi, when we're talking about childhood thrills, we're talking about the good stuff: playing in the sandbox and making a castle or fortress, taking off the training wheels on a bicycle, rolling around in mud and coming home looking like a swamp monster… Even the games we played were thrilling! There was hide and go seek, all the different versions of tag, lava monster, ghosts in the graveyard, kickball, and sharks and minnows! Just feeling the excitement of winning one of those games became one of the biggest highlights of the kid life!"_

"_That's a lot of stuff…"_

"_Tell me, Kairi. Have you ever learned how to ride a bicycle?"_

"_Well… No."_

..._  
_

"What kind of Late Night Show was that?" I yelled in exasperation. "The show is supposed to have funny interviews, not ones that make me sound stupid! Why is it that everyone seems to be pressing me on this childhood issue?"

"Kairi, calm down," said Selphie, feeling a bit frightened from hearing me growl and watching me claw my hands into my hair. "The interview was not all that bad."

"Are you kidding? They made me seem like some abnormal kid that came from a Martian planet!"

Selphie went over to my fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Handing it to me, she said, "If it makes you feel any better, I haven't done a lot of the stuff all the people were mentioning, either."

"Yeah, but I don't see them constantly bugging you on the subject." I drank about half of the bottle and sighed, feeling the water slowly flush out my system. "You know, Selphie, maybe this is some sort of sign."

"Huh?"

"I don't think it was just coincidence that Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Xion, Yuffie, and the Late Night Show host were warning me on the same issue. They all ended up telling me that I have to start living my life now or I'll regret it in the future."

"A sign, Kairi? Really? You're being overdramatic." She placed her hand on my forehead as if she was checking my temperature. I frowned at her. "Hmm, you seem to be normal. I think that you're thinking too much on this. Besides, this is our time to relax! I only have one more week with you before I go back home, and I don't want to spend it on watching you sulk about what they've said to you!"

"But—"

"No buts! And I know the best way of clearing your head for today."

An evil grin made its way onto her face. It was the grin that we always saw whenever one of us felt down; it was the grin that threatened the very existence of the stores here on the islands.

"SHOPPING!"

...

I really had no idea why I liked shopping so much. I bought a lot of cute garments and nice accessories, yet I always ended up wearing them once and never touching them again (unless the girls and I decided to have a Closet Clean-Out Day since my closet ended up getting overstuffed with untouched clothes).

I sometimes wondered why people made a big deal out of celebrities wearing clothes twice. Whenever someone snapped a picture of another and he or she noticed that there was a previous picture with whoever they caught in the picture with same clothes on, a bunch of stupid comments are made and that person ended up getting blasted on the internet or in a magazine. I was pretty sure people were becoming hypocrites because I knew that celebrities weren't the only ones wearing the same clothes twice.

Anyways, Selphie and I were on Beverly Street. In case you didn't know, Beverly Street was the most popular street on the Big Island since hundreds of different stores were lined up on both of its sides, all of them being brand name stores (well, actually, all stores on the Big Island were basically brand name stores). Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret had to accompany us since my dad didn't want me going out to stores by myself. When I asked him why, he said that there could be robbers and rapists out to get me. I thought that I was fairly intimidating from the ninja-kid movie I starred in when I was twelve, but I guess that didn't convince my dad enough.

Selphie and I walked into a purse store and immediately had the store's employees at our sides. Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret decided to stand outside by the doors to keep the suspicious people out while we were in the store. Inside, Selphie and I were taken over to a couch while the employees went to fetch us the store's top of the line purses. After about ten minutes, around seven employees came over and surrounded us, each with a different purse in hand.

"This purse here is made of geniune crocodile leather," said the man who led us into the store, pointing to the first purse on our right. "It was imported from our factory over in the Pride Lands."

"Crikey," I said. "That's a real nice purse."

"And this one over here," the man continued, pointing to the next person, "is made of leather. The diamonds you see here lined up along the zipper was imported from the mines at Radiant Garden. And they are very real. These are not the cheap stuff that you would find at a craft store."

"How about this one?" asked Selphie, motioning to the purse second from our left. I did notice that she had ignored the first two purses to stare at that one.

"Ah, I see you have a good eye. This, ma'am, is our best product. It is also made of crocodile leather, and all the jewels you see here on the side are from the caves of the Deep Jungle across the eastern ocean."

"I really, really like this one!"

"It's because of all the jewels," I remarked.

"Would you like me to ring this up for you?" asked the woman holding the purse of Selphie's preference.

"Yes, please!"

"And how about you, Ms. Strife?" asked the man. "Is there any purse that piques your interest?"

"I'll take the first one you showed us," I answered. What could I say? It was love at first sight.

"Splendid choice, ma'am." He led us over to the counter and placed the purses in two separate plastic bags. He pressed a few buttons on the cashier and said, "Ms. Tilmitt, your total is 50,000 munny."

Selphie pulled out her debit card and swiped it through the reader.

"And for you, Ms. Strife, the total is 48,000 munny."

I had thought that the amount for the purse was going to be higher, but I took the price. I swiped my debit card through the reader, and Selphie and I took our bags, thanked the employees, and walked out of the store with Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret in tow.

"More purses?" asked Uncle Leon.

"There's nothing wrong with that," stated Selphie.

"Wouldn't you think having three is enough? You two have bought over twelve different kinds already."

I smirked at him. "Oh, and having over thirty different kinds of guns and swords at your house isn't that big of a deal?"

"At least you can protect yourself with guns and swords," said Uncle Barret.

"Purses can be weapons, too," Selphie and I both argued. Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret just shook their heads and continued to follow us on our shopping adventure.

Selphie and I then headed into a shoe store and received the same treatment we did at the purse store (I forgot to mention that we were always treated this way: we would walk in, take a seat somewhere, and have the store workers show us the products. We rarely ever got to walk around and see the items on the shelves for ourselves). The process continued on the same as we hopped from store to store. We eventually felt tired from walking around with the bags in our hands, so we decided to sit down at the fountain in the park on Beverly Street.

"I wonder if I have any more room for clothes in my closet," I asked myself out loud.

"Your closet is as big as a hallway, Kairi," said Selphie. "And we cleaned out your closet last week. You should have room in there."

As Selphie continued on about my closet, I looked up from our shopping bags to see a fairly tall man strolling through the park. I noticed the long locks of pinkish-red hair on his head, and a familiar image formed in my mind.

I nudged Selphie with my elbow and pointed in the direction of the man. "Hey, Selphie, isn't that Marluxia?"

"Marluxia?" she exclaimed, her eyes widening as they spotted him. "You mean Marluxia from that new hit vampire series?"

"Yeah. That hair looks extremely familiar."

"Let's call him over!"

"Wait, no, Selph—"

"Marluxia!" she called out. Ugh, I was too late.

Upon hearing his name, Marluxia looked over in our direction. As he examined us, a smirk formed on his face and he began to make his way over. I lightly kicked Selphie in the shin.

"What was that for?" she whined.

"Why are you having him come over here?" I asked her through gritted teeth.

"Why not? If you haven't noticed, he's on the list for the top one hundred single men of the year, and he's only eighteen years-old. Didn't you watch his interview last week on DNN? He may not have met you, but he clearly has the hots for you."

"That doesn't mean I have to meet him now—"

"Good afternoon, ladies," greeted Marluxia as he stood in front of us. "I believe you two to be Kairi Strife and Selphie Tilmitt."

"And you are Marluxia Flores, right?" replied Selphie.

"That I am." He looked over to me and flashed a bright smile. "I never thought I would actually have the chance to meet you, Ms. Strife!"

"Please, call me Kairi," I told him politely. I didn't like formality much.

"Alright. So, Kairi," he began, examining me from head to toe, "what have you been up to these days?"

"Not a whole lot. I've been busy with stuff." His eyes continued to scan my body. I felt uncomfortable.

"Well, if you're ever not busy, would you like to meet up with me sometime?" He randomly handed me a flower. I was most likely going to find a phone number on it somewhere. "It would be nice to get to know you."

"Thanks." I looked over to Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret, finding them scowling. "Uh, Selphie and I have to go, so I guess I'll see you later?"

He smiled once again. "No problem."

As he walked off, Selphie frowned at me. "You played the 'I'm-not-interested-but-I'll-be-nice-to-you' card again."

We picked up our bags and began our trek back to the car, which was about a mile down the street. "You put me on the spot by calling him over."

"Don't you ever think that it's boring being single?"

"I've been fine with my life so far. Plus, I don't think I want to be caught up in a relationship with a guy like him."

"You don't even know him, though!"

"Neither do you!" I glanced down at the flower he gave me and, sure enough, a phone number was written on one of the petals. I thought it to be a strange way of giving out phone numbers. "Look at this. He has a phone number already written on the flower like it's a business card. You know what I think? He's a player."

"You make the worst excuses, Kairi—"

"My, my, look who I have run into today."

I unfortunately had to run into a hideous, poisonous voice that reminded me of a sixty-year-old villainous witch.

"Hello, Maleficent," I said, feeling my taste buds cringe as I let her name roll off my tongue. I looked up, and sure enough, it was her.

This witch—I mean, woman, Maleficent, had been criticizing my every move ever since I entered the acting business. I believed that she despised me. Why? Because when I came into the spotlight when I was little, she claimed that there was 'no way some infant in dirty diapers would ever find a place in the world of actors.' I always found her making negative comments about my acting performance in every single thing that I did. My rating averages normally went down because of her.

I also believed that she was jealous of me. After many years of practice, she finally picked up her fame by playing the role of the female antagonist (she didn't even have to try to play that part in my opinion). I picked up my fame just by being born.

"Shopping today, are you not?" Maleficent said, peeking into our bags. Her face wrinkled in disgust. "The taste in clothing over the years has become more and more unappealing."

I wondered how many people had given her any positive feedback on that bathrobe she wore everyday. I think 'none' would have been the best answer.

"And your hair," she continued. "Have you dyed it recently? It doesn't quite suit you."

"It's my natural hair color," I replied bitterly.

"Indeed." Her eyes continued to roam about my body, probably trying to think of another mishap of mine to point out. However, she eyed Selphie and said, "I don't understand why you allow this B-rated actress to follow you around, Kairi. Aren't you in the big names now? Maybe the reason why your performance is so mediocre is because you allow this girl to influence you."

"Don't you have somewhere to go?" asked Uncle Leon behind me, annoyance apparent in his voice.

"Why, yes, I do." She looked at me again and, with a twisted smile, said, "I can't wait to watch your upcoming film, Kairi. I wonder how splendid this one will be after the last one."

Her sarcasm was just _wonderful_. I didn't want to be feeling her presence any longer, so I smiled at her oh-so-kindly and said, "It was nice seeing you, Maleficent."

Without waiting for her reply, I walked past her quickly and continued making my way towards the car. I could feel my anger rising with every step I took.

"I'm surprised nothing bad came out of your mouth just then. I was about ready to sock her in her ancient face," pointed out Selphie as she caught up to me. I could tell that Maleficent's comment about her being 'B-rated' had really bothered her.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with her today," I said. "Every word she says makes my blood boil."

"So much for a having nice day out. Everything was going pretty well, too! No one was bothering you about autographs and pictures, then she had to come along…"

"Don't forget my 'run-in' with Marluxia," I growled.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry about that. Aren't Roxas and his parents coming over today? Maybe he'll help clear your head."

I had hoped that he would.

* * *

_-Again, I'm sorry for the three month long wait. I didn't even realize I was gone for that long until May hit.  
_-_I hope I at least satisfied you with a chapter. I promise the next one will be better. I kind of rushed it so that I can give you a product._

_Next chapter? Let's not make it three months from now.  
_


	6. Card Game

_I haven't reread this chapter for editing yet. Please excuse any grammatical errors or misspellings; I will get to those tomorrow (actually, a better phrase would be "later today" because it's now 12:38 AM). I hope you will enjoy this chapter! It actually has a meaning to it rather than just being a progression in the story._

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, nor do I own the game Apples to Apples. Apples to Apples is a card game originally published by Out of the Box Publishing, and it is now published by Mattel. The only thing that I could claim as mine would be the storyline of this fanfiction unless there is someone out there typing the same exact thing I am. That would be kind of cool, though. If there is anyone out there that is typing the same exact story that I am, then I would like to meet you and ask you to be my twin. Well, actually, not really. That's kind of strange.  


* * *

_

After the events of our shopping trip, Selphie and I were basically sitting in silence in the car. I knew that I shouldn't have let Maleficent's negative remarks bother me, but I couldn't help but feel the sting from her words. I was pretty sure that Selphie was feeling the same way.

We arrived at my house after about thirty minutes of driving. Selphie and I made our way up the grand staircase to my fairly large, cream-colored room. We placed our shopping bags near my closet and sat on my king-sized bed. I sighed as my head hit the pillow.

"It's not even three o'clock, but I already want this day to be over," I complained.

"It's not the end of the world, Kairi," said Selphie. "We should be used to what Maleficent says to us by now."

"I know that, but she's so hard to tolerate!"

"We're going to have to learn to tolerate her eventually. She's going to be stuck in our lives until she hits her grave."

"I hope that moment comes soon."

She gasped. "Kairi! That's an awful thing to say, even if she is mean to us!"

"You know what I mean, Selphie. I don't actually wish for her death. I just want her to stop criticizing me all the time."

"At the rate she's going, that's pretty much not going to happen."

I turned my head to the right and looked through my screen doors out to my small balcony. The flowers were swaying in the light breeze with butterflies dancing around them. Further out in the distance was the ocean, the never-ending body of water filled with mysteries and different ecosystems.

For some reason, looking out at the ocean made me think about my life and what people had been telling me up to this point. I asked myself, what was it in life that I was missing out on because of my career? What was outside of this fame-filled island that people yearned for me to experience so that I could understand what they were saying?

The sound of the doorbell snapped me out of my mini trance. Selphie and I lazily got off my bed and took our time walking through the hallway, already knowing who was at the door.

"The Fairs are here!" I heard Larxene yell in her shrilly voice.

We made our way downstairs and through the hallway into the kitchen, finding Larxene, Demyx, and my dad standing around the middle counter. Next to my dad was a buff but slender couple, both with long blackish-brown hair though the male wore his hair in spikes.

"Hey, Kairi! And Selphie, too!" greeted the woman as Selphie and I joined the circle around the counter.

"Hey, Tifa! Hey, Zack!" I greeted in return, putting a smile on my face.

Zack Fair and Tifa Lockhart are two of my parents' best friends. My dad met them while he was in the military and later introduced them to my mom after they retired from duty, and soon after that they all became part of the entertainment business. Zack is a director and screenwriter while Tifa is a stunt person who does most of the hardcore fighting scenes and the complicated moves that a majority of people in the world are incapable of doing. They are also Roxas's parents. How they gave birth to a blond-haired child was unknown to me, though I could have asked the same about my parents.

"Long time no see!" said Tifa happily.

"Not really," said Zack. "We were here almost a week ago."

"Well, we haven't seen Aerith in forever. I'll say it to her, then. Where is she, anyway?"

"She's out on a celebration lunch with her band for their successful tour," answered Cloud. "She'll be home in about an hour or so."

"Is Roxas here?" I asked, noticing that blond-n-spiky wasn't with us.

"He's here," said Larxene. "Axel took him. I have no idea where in the house they are."

Oh. So much for Plan Hang-out-with-Roxas. I sighed. "Alright, then. I'll let those two guys be."

"We're not going to see him?" asked Selphie next to me. "Didn't we plan to hang out with him?"

"Yeah, we did, but you know how he is when he's with Axel. When they're off doing crazy things or making insane creations with Axel's pyromaniac imagination, you know that they're not going to even bother acknowledging our presence." In the corner of my eye, I saw Zack and Tifa shaking their heads. "We're just going to have to do something else to clear our heads."

"Did something happen?" asked Demyx.

"We bumped into Maleficent today." Everyone groaned.

"What do we do now?" asked Selphie.

I turned to my dad. Since I couldn't really think of anything else, I had to try Plan B. "Are the girls still here, or did they go out?"

"I believe they're still here," he replied. "Last time I saw them was about twenty minutes ago. I think they were all going to Yuffie's room."

...

"Come in!" I heard Yuffie yell after I knocked on her door. Selphie and I walked into her light yellow room to find my group of make-up artists and hair stylists gathered around her bed. Xion was busy braiding Rikku's hair while Yuffie, Yuna, and Paine were playing with cards.

"Paine, terrorist attacks are not what people consider friendly these days," stated Yuffie as she read the cards in her hands.

"Why are you blaming me for playing that card?" asked Paine innocently.

"Because you're always picking the cards with the words that are completely opposite of the subject word! I can always tell which ones are yours!"

Selphie and I went over and sat on the bed next to the card-playing trio. "What are you guys playing?" I asked them.

"Apples to Apples," answered Yuna.

"A game that Paine doesn't seem to understand how to play," added in Yuffie. Paine just shrugged.

"Could we join in?" I asked.

"Sure! It was getting kind of boring picking from just two cards."

As Yuffie was busy retrieving more cards from the card game's box, Xion looked up from her hair braiding. "Hey, what's with the small frowns?" she asked, referring to Selphie and I.

"Just another run-in with Maleficent," I sighed.

"Oh, quit having that hag bother you," said Yuna. "All she's trying to do is get into your head."

"I know, but it's hard to ignore her all the time."

Yuffie gave Selphie and I seven cards each, all of them red in color. "Don't worry about that bag of dusty bones," she said. "You both are successful actresses. Let her stress out over finding bad things to say about you two. It's not like anyone truly cares about what she says, anyway."

"The only one that probably listens to her is her dog, Pete," commented Xion.

"That fat ol' dog is pathetic!" exclaimed Rikku. "He's bigger than two bulldogs put together yet he is scared of everything!"

Yuna picked up a green card. "Forget about Maleficent and her dog. Let's continue on with this game," said Yuna. She placed the green card in the middle of our circle on the bed. "It's my turn to judge now. The word is 'frightening.'"

I looked down at the words on my cards. My hand consisted of 'airplanes,' 'children's books,' 'pumpkins,' 'the 1950s,' 'horses,' 'Atlantica,' and 'Pamela Anderson.'

None of my cards seemed to be in the category of frightening. I rode airplanes all the time, so I didn't think they were scary. Children's books weren't written to freak kids out. Pumpkins? Nah, just humongous orange fruits that people carve faces into. I barely knew any history, so the 1950s didn't really seem to be a good card for me to play. Horses surely weren't frightening. Atlantica was supposedly a happy place filled with mermaids, talking whales, and singing crabs. Pamela Anderson did seem to have freakishly huge boobs.

That's when I decided that my last card was going to be the one I played.

I turned my card face down and added it into the small pile of Selphie's, Paine's, and Yuffie's cards. Yuna shuffled them around two or three times then flipped them over.

"'Haunted houses,' 'clowns,' 'Pamela Anderson,' and 'Jesus,'" she said, reading the words on each card. "I'm going to guess that Paine is the one that played the 'Jesus' card."

Paine said nothing.

"Haunted houses are pretty scary. Remember that abandoned mansion we found in Twilight Town, Rikku?"

"That place definitely counted as a haunted house!" shrieked Rikku. "I can't believe you made me walk through that dark forest just to get there! Why did we decide to go through that hole in the wall, anyway? Paine, you should have been with us, but nooo."

"You went through the hole in the wall?" I asked them. "Isn't going through there completely off limits?"

"It's called the thrill of breaking the rules and not getting caught. But you wouldn't know about that. Your life seems to be devoid of thrills."

Just hearing the word 'thrills' bothered me.

"Clowns are quite intimidating," Yuna said, changing the subject. "I don't get how people can stand looking at clowns. They've got all this bizarre make-up on their faces and they go around trying to sell balloons and cotton candy to little kids."

"I remember the time when we all went to the circus," said Xion. "Kairi and Selphie weren't with us at the time because they were busy with filming, but man, did you miss out! This clown came up behind us and asked if we wanted to watch him make balloon animals. We all kind of jumped when we saw him, but Paine had to take it to the extremes. She socked the poor guy in the face."

I laughed at that story. I wish I could have seen that.

"It's not my fault that I was being careful," Paine defended. "I had my back turned, so when I saw you guys jump, I just happened to turn around with my fist at the ready."

"I don't think Pamela Anderson comes across as frightening," Yuna said, examining my card.

"She so is, though!" I yelled. "Don't those boobs of hers freak you out when you see them? You have to stand five feet away from her so that they won't touch you!"

"Kairi, you just made it completely obvious that you played the 'Pamela Anderson' card," said Yuffie. "You're not supposed to let the judge know which card is yours."

Although I did play Apples to Apples a few times before, I still didn't know all the rules too well, so I didn't find my sudden outburst to be a major issue.

"I'm going to have to go with 'haunted houses' for this round," declared Yuna. "Just seeing the word reminds me of the mansion in Twilight Town."

"Yay!" cheered Selphie. She took the green card and placed it beside her, showing that she had earned a point.

"You should have definitely picked clowns!" complained Yuffie.

"What happened at the mansion?" I asked Yuna.

"Nothing really happened inside the mansion," she replied. "There was just a whole lot of broken furniture all over the floor and creepy statues that looked like they would come alive."

"Most of the doors were locked for some reason," chimed in Rikku. "There was this one door, though, that led to a really bright, white room. It was the only room that actually looked clean and decent, which was the freaky part. There were many drawings scattered around the room, either on the wall or on the long table in the middle of the room. Some of the drawings had weird people wearing black cloaks. Others had a boy with a huge key hanging out with a duck and a dog. Whoever drew them must have had an imagination spasm."

It probably must have been scary going into an abandoned mansion like that. I think the reason why going through the hole in the wall was forbidden was because of that mansion.

"Oh well. At least we're still alive, right?" said Yuna. She dealt out a red card to Yuffie, Paine, Selphie, and I to replace the cards we used in the last round. She picked up another green card. "My last turn as the judge. The word is 'sad.'"

I looked at my new card, which read 'The Great Depression.' Other than the little fact on the card that said that the Great Depression was 'a time of chaotic economic downfall,' I had no idea what the Great Depression really was. However, since I knew that the word 'depression' basically meant extreme sadness, I decided to use the card since none of my other cards seemed to fit under the word 'sad.'

After we turned in the cards, Yuna shuffled them once again.

"'The lottery,' 'The Great Depression,' 'trampolines,' and 'actors,'" she read aloud. She then glared at Paine. "Trampolines? This card must be yours!"

"You can break your neck," stated Paine. "That would be sad." Yuffie shook her head.

"I can see how the lottery could be sad, though," said Rikku. "Maybe not to the fortunate people that win them, but to all the other people that spent whatever amount of money they used to try their luck and then end up not earn anything."

"The Great Depression was a sad historical event," said Yuna. "People were thrown out of jobs due to the terribly low economy and many families had to live on the streets. It was common to find people living in slums or houses made out of cardboard boxes. Soup kitchen were essential at the time."

At least I knew that I played a good card.

"How do you know so much about this 'Great Depression'?" I asked.

"It's called 'suffering through history class and trying to pay attention,'" answered Yuffie. "The only people ever interested in that class were the ones that were going to pursue some degree in history in the future. Everyone else just had to struggle with staying awake."

"I don't get why we were learning about the history about some country in North America, though," Xion said. "Don't you think we would have been better off learning about the history of Destiny Islands instead?"

"It wouldn't have mattered to me. I wasn't going to pay attention to any sort of history."

It was a good thing Yuna did, though. I was content with knowing that I chose the right card.

"'Actors,' hmm…" pondered Yuna. "I'm going to guess that Yuffie played this card because I don't think Kairi and Selphie would have considered themselves as sad people."

"Way to just call me out like that!" huffed Yuffie.

"Why do you think being an actor is sad?" asked Selphie.

Yuffie sighed. "Don't you remember what we were talking about at Paopu Waters a few days ago?"

I sure did remember that day. They were bombarding us with all the 'simple things' that they enjoyed.

"Don't you feel as if you're missing out on a lot of things in life from being actors?" she continued. "Your life is so consumed from the demands of acting that you can't enjoy experiencing being a teenager!"

"We are beings teenagers," I said. "Just famous ones."

"That's not the same! You two have been growing up doing work and being professionals in acting. You don't get to go out and have fun and be free because they demand seriousness and focus from actors. People depend on you to get the job done almost all the time. When you're just an average teenager, you don't feel any of that pressure."

"The teenage years are the transitions from kid to adult," said Paine. "Since you two have been actresses since you were infants, your life is basically set for you. However, the downside to this is that you don't get to experience and see other things that average teenagers do. They get to make mistakes and learn from them to make their lives better. Actors aren't allowed to; they're supposed to always look and be perfect because they're always in the public's eye. Average teenagers get to decide a path for themselves to take that suits them best. They get to truly experience growing up."

"That's the most I've ever heard Paine say this week," I heard Rikku whisper to Xion.

"But, we enjoy acting," I said. "What's wrong with having a path already set for us if we enjoy doing it?"

"Because you won't get to know what else there is that life has to offer you," Yuffie answered. "You won't be able to live life to the fullest by just acting."

I looked out Yuffie's sliding doors towards the ocean just like I did in my room a while ago. What they had said to me just added more questions into my thoughts from earlier. Now I was asking myself, am I going to regret living my life as an actress if what they said is true? Am I going to regret not experiencing other things in life because I claimed that acting was enough? What if I don't like what's out there? What if it makes my life miserable?

"You will never know what's out there until you go and see for yourself," said Xion as if she was reading my thoughts.

"You guys may be right," I admitted (I think their faces glowed when I said that), "but how will I even get to know what's out there when I'm already scheduled for filming another movie and attending talk shows and photo shoots? How will I be able to get myself out of a life that has already planned things for me to do?"

Whatever glow was on their faces seemed to have faded. They looked at each other, either wondering what to say or telepathically communicating with each other about ideas that could take me out of my starstruck life. I'm kidding about the second part, but their faces sure did look like they were talking to each other through their minds.

"We're going to have to get back to you on that," sighed Yuffie.

Yuna looked back at the cards. "Um, well, I'm going to pick 'The Great Depression' for this round," she said.

Yes, I did win with a card that I barely knew anything about. My mood was automatically lifted. I happily took the green card.

"Here, Kairi," said Yuna, handing me the green cards. "It's your turn to judge."

I dealt out three red cards for Yuffie, Paine, and Selphie to replace the ones they used. I shuffled through the green cards, picked the one at the top of the pile, and placed it in the middle of our circle.

"The word is 'thrilling,'" I said. My eye twitched as I read the word on the card.

I swore life was out to get me.

Paine was the first to put her card down. Since Yuna and Yuffie had been complaining about her playing the cards that had opposite meanings to the subject card, I was going to look out for the card that would probably fall under the 'boring' category rather than 'thrilling.'

After about ten seconds, Selphie put her card down, followed by Yuna. The only one left was Yuffie. We all looked to her, and I was surprised to find that she was biting her lip, forcing down a smile.

"Is one of your cards extremely hilarious or something?" I asked her.

She shook her head. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling with excitement.

"Kairi, I believe that I have found the best way to solve your issue," she said, placing her card down.

I was interested in what her card was, but I decided to be fair to the others and shuffled the small pile of green cards. After four shuffles, I picked up the first one.

'Bananas.' I was one hundred percent positive that it was Paine's card.

I picked up the second one. 'Shopping.' I could pretty much guess that it was Selphie that played this card. You can't blame the girl, though. Shopping is pretty thrilling.

I picked up the third one. 'Vacation.' I thought for a second if this was Yuffie's card. Going on a vacation seemed like a good way to see the world. Then again, I didn't think that was what Yuffie was getting at. Nonetheless, I was still suspiscous.

Time for the last card. I flipped it over, somehow expecting to see a word relating to adventures or deep-sea diving (don't ask why; that's just how my mind worked).

However, what I saw on the card made my jaw drop.

'High school.'

It was definitely Yuffie's card.

* * *

_-As my high school year is about to end, Kairi's might possibly be beginning. Sorry, Kairi. Have to send you to school at some point.  
-Just to let you know, I went back to every single chapter and changed the present tense back to past tense. I would have kept going in the present tense form, but it just felt strange to me and I wasn't too comfortable with it. I hope I'm not confusing anyone with anything. I'm still in the process of rereading the chapters to check for any grammatical errors after the tense swtich.  
-I am proud of myself for having an update that did not take three months. I still feel guilty about that. I could have probably been at chapter fifteen by now instead of chapter six.  
_

-_Next chapter might be a Sora chapter, but then it might be another Kairi chapter. I haven't decided on which event I want to present first. However, I could mix it up... :)_


	7. Enrollment

_Hey! Just to let you know, this is a bit of a lengthy chapter, maybe the longest I've ever written (I probably don't compare to the extremely long chapters I've seen in other fanfictions; don't get me wrong, a majority of them are written and organized very well). I hope you guys don't mind. I tried to add some humor to liven it up a bit._

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from Kingdom Hearts or Square-Enix.  


* * *

_"You really can't be serious about this, Yuffie," I said out loud. Everyone in the room except for Yuffie turned to me, confused.

"What are you talking about?" asked Yuna. I handed her the card, and when she looked at the word that was typed onto the small, thick piece of paper, she smiled. "I actually quite like this idea."

"I wanna see, I wanna see!" cried Rikku childishly. Yuna passed her the card. Rikku cooed and showed the card to Xion, who was almost finished braiding Rikku's hair. "Do you want to see, Pizzle?"

Paine scowled at her nickname. "You're lucky I'm not the one braiding your hair right now."

"I think going to high school would be awesome for you!" Yuffie said as the card was passed to Selphie. "It would be the best excuse, too. I'm pretty sure that people wouldn't mind you taking a break from stardom to get an education!"

"I never said I wanted to do _that_!" I told her. It wasn't that I didn't want to experience the 'teenage life' that everyone was talking about (I decided that I was honestly curious about it and that I wanted to see for myself if it was as good as it was made out to be or not); I just didn't like the fact of an education. From the stories that the girls told me about school, I had learned that school was awfully boring and, for some reason, complex.

"Why not?" asked Rikku. "You'll be surrounded by hundreds of average teenagers!"

"And you'll also be picking up the slack in the educational department of your brain," said Xion.

I humphed. "I know enough to go on in life, thanks."

I could feel Paine's interrogating eyes burning on my face. "What's six times four?" she asked.

I thought for a short while. "Twenty-four."

"Eight times five?"

About fifteen seconds of silence passed, then, "Forty."

"Fifty-six divided by seven?"

I absolutely hated division. I sat for a while, numbers flying in and out of my brain. "I think it's eight?"

"You need to get a bit faster at math," observed Xion.

"How is math going to help me with anything?"

"It will help a lot if you're, let's say, evenly distributing papers to a group of people. You would first have to get the total number of people, then get the total amount of papers that you're going to give to them. You divide that number by the amount of people in the group so that each one of them has the same amount."

You could probably guess what I was thinking at that moment. Huhhhhhhh?

"It also helps a lot when you pay your bills," Xion continued. "As a matter of fact, it just helps when you're purchasing or paying off something in general."

"Do you know any history?" asked Yuna.

I laughed. "The only history that I'm aware of are my parents' and nothing else."

"I don't think history really helps us in life," stated Rikku. "I haven't remembered much of anything that I've learned in history, but I'm doing pretty well!"

"It helps to know about what has happened and what's going on now in the world, though," said Yuna.

"Science helps teach us about the way of life and how things are created," said Yuffie.

"What am I going to do with that?" I asked her.

"I don't know. It's just an interesting subject—Well, maybe not. It just depends on which science course you take."

"Honestly, guys, Kairi and I have not had any education whatsoever with the exception of the times tables and whatever we learned on television," commented Selphie. "If you're going to throw Kairi in a school where the people have been getting educated since they were five, how do you think she's going to fare?"

"Pssh, all she has to do is pay attention in school," answered Rikku.

"The only thing we have to worry about is getting you enrolled," said Paine.

"Wait, we're actually going to go through with this?" I asked, a bit fazed. "I'm really not that interested in going to school."

"But, that's the best way to see what other teenagers are like!" argued Yuffie.

A thought then made its way into my mind. "You know, I can't just sign myself up for high school. I have to have parents do that. I don't really think that my mom and dad will just let me take a 'break' that lasts for a whole school year." I was pretty sure that I had stumped them with that one.

However, instead of getting the defeated faces I was expecting to see, I got smirks and eyes twinkling with what looked like unwavering determination. The only one that seemed to be worried about the whole situation was Selphie.

...

"You want Kairi to go to high school?" asked my father as we all sat at the kitchen table. Also sitting with us were my mother, Zack, Tifa, Uncle Leon, and Uncle Barret.

"I believe having her go to school would be a good experience for her," said Yuffie. She was the one that had proposed the idea to my father when we came downstairs. "The girls and I have been thinking about this for a while now, and we decided that it would be best for Kairi if she went out and experienced growing up like how all the other teenagers do."

"Why do you think going to school would be best for her?" questioned my mother.

"Um, because—because we... I thought—," Yuffie stammered. She looked around to Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and Xion. "I hope you won't be offended with what I'm about to say."

My mother just smiled and nodded, motioning for her to continue.

Yuffie breathed out. "I was thinking that Kairi might be better off in life if she took a break from all this fame and fortune because she's constantly on the go, and what would be a better break than going to school? Not only will she get an education, she will also be able to interact with other people her age and truly be able to feel like she's growing up. I mean, yeah, she has friends like us, but that's not enough because she's only experiencing high school through the stories we tell her. You all graduated from high school, right?"

The adults looked at each other and smiled. My father, Uncle Leon, and Uncle Barret started to laugh, probably thinking of some inside joke from who knows when.

"See what I mean?" persisted Yuffie. "Don't you want Kairi to experience the same stuff that you guys have? I'm pretty sure you enjoyed high school from that rare smile you're giving Leon and Barret, Mr. Strife, so don't you think Kairi might regret not going to high school in the future?"

My father then looked to my mother. She smiled at him and, surprisingly, shrugged. I was usually good at reading their non-verbal communication that only married couples could pull off (I've been told that parents do this so that their kids wouldn't know what was going on between them; my parents interacted with each other in their language almost all the time, making it possible for me to break their code as I watched them), but I had never seen my mother shrug before, so I had no idea what the new motion was supposed to mean.

Oh, and I was also surprised with Yuffie's proposal. I have honestly never heard that girl try to be persuasive. Even though I wasn't very intrigued with the idea of going to high school, she was able to conjure up a point, and I was pretty sure that my parents had caught onto it.

"Well, we did grow up in high school," said my father.

I could feel an aura of confidence build up around me. If I had to guess its source, I would have to say it came from the girls.

"I think high school was where most of our growing up took place," added in Uncle Leon. "I felt a lot different and more mature when I was a senior. Freshman year... Wow, I can't even look back on those days without thinking, 'man, what was wrong with me?'"

I felt slightly confused. "Wouldn't the military be where you guys grew up the most?" I asked them.

"Nah, girl, that was where the physical and mental toughness was developed," answered Uncle Barret. "High school was the emotional and personality part of growin' up."

"You know, Cloud," said my mother. "I actually quite like the girls' idea. I have been worried that Kairi has been growing up too quickly, especially with us not being around all the time."

If I had been 'growing up too quickly' as my mother said, I sure didn't feel as if I was.

"You think it would be okay?" my father asked her.

"Yes. But, Yuffie," she turned to her, "we all know that we never gave Kairi any proper education, so how are we going to even put her in a school where the kids have been getting educated since they were little?"

"Your mom and I think the same way," whispered Selphie to me. "That will be one new thing to brag about: Selphie Tilmitt and Aerith Gainsborough share a mental bond with each other that no one will be able to break!"

"Keep dreaming, Selphie," I whispered back to her.

"I'm pretty sure that if we teach Kairi the basics, she'll be fine," answered Yuffie to my mother's question. "Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Xion, and I have been through all the required classes in high school, so if you're willing to enroll your daughter, we'll be more than glad to help!"

Rikku gasped. "That means we'll be make-up artists AND tutors!" she squealed.

"Maybe we will be," said Paine, referring to her, Yuna, Xion, and Yuffie, "but you won't."

"I can so be a good tutor!"

"I highly doubt that you will be a good tutor in any subject because you were so bad in all your classes."

"Hello? I can totally tutor art."

Uncle Barret chuckled. "What do ya think, Cloud?" he asked my father. "You gonna put Kairi in school?"

"I don't think it's a bad idea," he answered. "We could possibly have her attend The Island School about six miles down the road near the city."

Yuffie scratched her head. "Um, Mr. Strife? We were thinking more of an... Uh, well, average type of school."

"Average?"

"Yeah, because—you see—" she stammered again.

"What my sister is trying to say is that we believe it would be better for Kairi if she wasn't around other teenagers who live on this rich, superstar-filled island," answered Xion for her. "In order for her to understand what we are saying about growing up as an average teenager, we want her to be around people like us in a public school."

"The 'back-then-in-high-school' us!" clarified Rikku.

My mother thought for a minute. "I don't think there's a public high school here on this island, though," she said.

"She could go to our old high school!" voiced Yuffie. "It's only the next island over. That island isn't as big and crowded as this one, but it's a nice place to be. She can just take the ferry over there. It's about a ten minute ride if I remember correctly."

If you recall, I had never set foot on another island other than my own. I was unsure of whether or not my parents would allow me to go island hopping by myself.

"I'm not quite sure if I like the idea of Kairi going to another island by herself," said my mother.

See what I meant?

"What if we had Roxas accompany her?" proposed Tifa.

Nevertheless, some almighty, invisible being controlling my life must have been doing everything in its power to get me to go to school.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Zack. "He was a bit of a situation in elementary school. He also has a few events coming up soon."

"Oh, but that was elementary school. All boys are energetic and rowdy there. And I'm pretty sure that we could balance out both his career and his education if we have him go back to school. We'll just have to schedule things accordingly and cancel some things if we must. It won't be a big deal."

"Where is that boy, anyway? Is he still with Axel?"

"Larxene!" called out my father. "You around, still?"

"I'm coming!" her acute voice replied back from somewhere in the house. After about thirty seconds had passed, she arrived at the kitchen. "What do you need?"

"Fetch Roxas for me, please. We have a question for him."

Larxene walked off. My father then turned to Selphie. "I would ask if you could go with Kairi, but your parents will probably keep you busy over in Balamb."

"You got that right," affirmed Selphie. "They always have me doing something over there. I kind of want to move back here, but Balamb is a nice place."

"Don't they have a school over there called Balamb Garden? Maybe you should think about applying there."

I was taken aback. "Wait, dad, are you actually considering putting me in school?" I asked him.

"Depends. Let's see what Roxas thinks. However, there is one aspect of this idea that I'm not particularly fond of."

The girls got a bit tense.

"Although you all have good intentions in having Kairi go to school, she still does have a career that I don't want her taking a break from for almost nine months," my father said. "If we do have her go to school along with Roxas, I do want her to still play her role as an actress and do anything else that's required from her."

Basically, if Roxas agreed to going to school with me, both he and I were going to be living the same sort of lifestyle.

"Don't you think that might be too much to put on her plate?" asked my mother.

"She'll be fine," responded my father. "If she goes to school, we'll just do the same as Zack and Tifa and balance everything out for her."

At that moment, Larxene returned with Roxas. Axel seemed to have tagged along behind them.

"Is there a meeting in the kitchen or something?" he asked, taking note of all the people present in the room.

"In a way, yes," answered his father. "Come over here, Roxas. Your mother, Cloud, Aerith, and I want to ask you a question."

Roxas made his way over. He stood between my parents and his, looking a bit hesitant. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, we're just going to ask you a simple question," comforted Tifa.

"What do you think about going back to school?" asked Zack.

Roxas wrinkled his nose. "You mean go back to being educated?"

"Yeah. We were thinking about having both you and Kairi attend the public high school on Kahlea Island. Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Xion, and Yuffie all went there. What was the high school called?"

"Destiny Islands High School!" the girls answered. Their excitement made my stomach turn.

Roxas then looked at me. "Well, as long as I'm not going alone, I think I'll be okay with it."

Selphie tapped her foot against mine under the table. I answered her by pinching her thigh.

"Ow!" she yelled.

"You okay?" asked Uncle Leon.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. There's just a fly in my pants."

All went silent. She could have came up with a better excuse. However, it was Selphie that we were talking about here.

"What?" she asked, keeping a straight face. "Don't mind my outburst. Continue on with your conversation."

Although we felt a bit weirded out, we did as we were told.

"So, Kairi," began my father, "what do you think about going to Destiny Islands High School with Roxas?"

"Honestly, dad, I didn't really like the idea of taking a break from acting to go to school," I said. I looked over at the girls, all staring at me with pleading eyes. I sighed. "But, from all the stories that they've been telling me about school, I've decided to just go see for myself if the life they're talking about is really worth living."

The girls all inwardly cheered. I could tell by the looks on their faces.

"I also think it's good for you to go so that you can finally get an education," chimed in my mother. "I don't want a brain-empty actress for a daughter."

"So it's settled, then," said my father. He turned his attention to the Fairs. "Zack, Tifa, you want to meet us by the pier tomorrow around eight? We could all get some breakfast then catch the ferry to Kahlea at ten."

"Tomorrow?" I repeated. "We're going to see Kahlea tomorrow?"

"Of course. From what I know about Kahlea, the schools start at the beginning of September. We're about mid-way through August now, so I have to get you enrolled as soon as possible so that we can help teach you some things to prepare you for the classes."

Everything was happening so quickly and so suddenly. I was starting feeling dubious about the idea of me going to school.

...

As planned, Roxas's family and my family met at the pier slightly after eight o'clock. Uncle Leon, Uncle Barret, and the girls decided to stay back home because they didn't want us to attract too much attention and look like an entourage parading around Kahlea. Our two families ate at a small diner about a block down from the pier so that we could fill up our bellies for the morning (we had the people in the diner staring at us wide-eyed as a side dish since it was pretty rare to see two famous families eating together at one place). We finished our breakfast around a quarter 'til ten, so we went to the pier to wait out the rest of the time.

"Even though everyone else stayed behind, I think we're going to still bring too much attention to ourselves," said my mother.

"How so?" asked my father. "It's just you, me, Tifa, Zack, Roxas, and Kairi."

"Think about it, Cloud. There are six well-known entertainers in this group. Do you know how much acclamation we will receive if someone notices all of us together? You saw how everyone was at that diner."

"What do you suggest we do, then? Kairi and Roxas will probably get the same treatment if we get them into the school."

"I know, but, still. I think we should lessen our numbers a bit."

Tifa then clapped her hands together. "I know!" she exclaimed. "How about Aerith and I stay behind and do some catching up with each other while you four go to Kahlea?"

Zack sighed. "Is this a nice way of saying you don't want to go with us because you want to go shopping together?"

"Don't get me wrong, Zack. We would love to go to the island with you all," she turned and smiled at my mother, "but I agree with Aerith in that we will gain too much attention if we're all together over there. And besides, I want to hear all about her tour. She hasn't told me anything, yet!"

My father then looked to Zack, who shrugged. "Suit yourself," said my father. "We'll just let you know what happens when we get back."

"Cool! See you then!" Tifa hooked her arm through my mother's and dragged her off. If you asked me, I'd say that it looked like a kidnapping.

My father was busy conversing with Zack while Roxas and I chatted about what people might think of our movie that was going to be released in theaters in two months. For the next five minutes our conversations went on until the ferry sounded its horn, announcing its arrival. We made our way onto the ferry and found a spot near the front where we all leaned against the railing and watched the ocean scenery slowly drift by us. A few seagulls were attempting to keep up with the ferry's speed while some fish enjoyed jumping out of the water. Unfortunately for two of the fish, a pelican dove down, scooped them up, and flew away. Sorry, I just wanted to throw that in there. Life goes on.

As the ferry traveled farther away from my home island, another island was coming into view.

"The island that we're approaching over there is Kahlea," my father said, answering the question I was about to ask him.

It wasn't as small as I imagined it to be, but it was distinctively smaller than the Big Island. From what I could see, there weren't many industrial buildings like there were on my birth island. Actually, there weren't any at all. As we got closer, I could make out a good number of smaller buildings that I could guess were markets, local shops, and restaurants. There were a few piers that docked some boats and what looked like wooden rafts. There were three mountains located farther into the island that were surrounded by forests.

However, what stood out to me the most was Kahlea's island neighbor, which was extremely small in comparison and sat about a short distance out from Kahlea's shore. The tiny island had looked unoccupied at first, but as I scanned it further, I spotted a large, uniquely built tree house next to a small waterfall. Like Kahlea, there were many trees. There was also an islet connected by a bridge.

Because of my continued staring at the small island, I didn't notice our arrival until the ferry sounded its horn once again. We walked off the ferry and onto the wooden pier, scanning the island in front of us.

"This place is a lot different than the Big Island," I pointed out.

"Kahlea is actually the home of many intelligent people," my father said. "If they wanted to, this island could become as technologically advanced as ours, but the natives enjoy the peace and quiet here."

"It just feels a bit weird, though. That's all."

"But, if we go to school here, might as well get used to it," said Roxas. "Selphie probably wouldn't last going to school here. I don't see anything that looks like a mall!"

I had to laugh at that one. I could imagine Selphie going insane from the lack of shopping diversity of this island.

"Let's find out where Destiny Islands High School is," mentioned my father. "I don't want to stay on this pier for too long. The people here are already going nuts."

Roxas and I looked around. Surely enough, people were already staring and taking pictures. I heard one girl say, "Oh my god, I am witnessing Kairi Strife take her first steps on an island other than her own." I wonder how special she felt.

We walked over to an information booth at the beginning of the pier. The man inside was busy typing on his computer and looking over brochures. My father had to tap on the window to get his attention, and when the man looked up, he beamed.

"Cloud!" he greeted in a cheery voice. "It's so nice to see ya back on Kahlea! It has been, what, two months now?"

"It's nice to see you again as well, Mr. Mickey. How's everything with you and your wife?"

"Minnie and I have been fine. We're thinking about taking a trip to Disney World next summer." The man, known as Mr. Mickey, looked over at the rest of our group. "Who did ya bring with you today, Cloud?"

My father introduced the three of us, giving us each a small background to give Mr. Mickey a better idea of who we were. I was pretty sure that Mr. Mickey would have been fine with just names, though. It was pretty uncommon to have people not know who we were.

"This is a sight to see!" said Mr. Mickey. "I never thought that I would have been introduced to the Fairs and Kairi Strife all in one day!"

"Surprising, isn't it?" said my father. "Roxas and Kairi never really thought of setting foot on an island other than the Big Island."

"What brings you all to Kahlea, then?"

"We want to have our kids attend Destiny Islands High School."

Mr. Mickey's eyes widened. "You want them to go to school here?"

"Yes, unless there is a problem with the school or something?"

"No, no, that school has never had any glaring issues. It's just... Surprising, that's all. Aren't there better schools on the Big Island for Roxas and Kairi to attend?"

"That's what I believed, but we were told otherwise." I rolled my eyes. I still couldn't get over the fact that Yuffie was able to convince my parents into having me go to a public school. I had thought that my parents would have persisted in making me attend a private school where I could at least be treated somewhat normally since other rich, somewhat famous kids went there.

"Alrighty, then. If you say so." Mr. Mickey gave my father a map. He pointed to a spot with a building sitting atop a hill. "The high school you're looking for isn't very far from here. Take a right here, pass through two street lights, turn left, and you should be walking uphill towards the school. It's located at the end of the street, so it'll be easy to find. The school's office should be open by now."

"Thanks, Mr. Mickey. We'll be seeing you."

Our group of four followed the directions that Mr. Mickey gave us and were able to make it to the school safely since there weren't many people out on the streets during this time of day (by safely, I meant not getting ambushed by people asking for autographs or wanting to take pictures with us). The school looked fairly large on the outside. There were many windows, each in sets of two evenly spaced out on the walls.

Once we were inside, I looked around and noticed how much larger the school seemed on the inside. There was a high ceiling where we were standing, which was the front end of the school. Small couches, chairs, and the occasional potted plants were placed along the walls. Straight ahead of us was what I guessed as the main office that Mr. Mickey told us to go to since there were people sitting at desks. To the left and right of the office were closed doors.

"Those doors probably lead to the hallways," guessed Roxas, seeing me eye the doors.

We went into the office; my father and Zack walked up to the front desk while Roxas and I decided to occupy the waiting chairs. The lady at the front desk didn't seem to notice the two men standing in front of her for she was busy scribbling nonsense on pieces of paper. My father cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, miss," my father began. "We would like to get some help."

"Sure, of course," the lady replied without looking up. "What are your names?"

"My name is Cloud Strife. The man next to me is Zack Fair.

The lady laughed. "That's a good joke, gentlemen. Now, tell me what your real names are. I don't have time for this."

"Well, if you had looked up, you wouldn't have made the assumption that we weren't who we said we were."

"Look, guys, I get my strings pulled enough." The lady then finally looked up. "If you're going to keep on insisting that you're those famous dudes, then I'll—"

She paused. Roxas and I tried not to laugh as we watched her jaw hit the floor.

"Oh—oh my. You guys—you guys are the, the _real_ people, aren't you?" she stuttered. "This can't be happening! This can't be happening!"

My father and Zack looked at each other. Zack lifted his eyebrow.

"Are Cloud Strife and Zack Fair really standing at my desk right now?" the lady continued. "Am I really not imagining these things? Tell me this isn't real!"

"Lady, this is real," answered Zack. "We are standing in front of you."

The lady shrieked. Roxas and I cringed. "Wow! Wow, wow, wow, wow, _wow_! I'm officially making this day the highlight of my summer!"

"I'm glad to hear that," said my father unenthusiastically. "May we ask you a question, miss?"

"Yes, yes! What may I do for you lovely men today?"

"We want to know where we can sign-up a few people for this school."

"Oh, I can do that for you right here! Who are you planning to enroll?"

"I want to enroll my daughter." My father then pointed to Zack. "He wants to enroll his son."

The lady's jaw practically crashed onto the floor. "You—you—you want to enroll your kids?"

"Yes."

"You want to have—you want to have Kairi Strife and Roxas Fair attend this school?"

My father sweatdropped. "Um, yes."

"How lovely!" she squealed. Her face-stretching smile was beginning to lessen in power. "However, enrolling them might be a bit difficult."

"How so?" asked Zack.

"Well, you see, in order for kids to progress each year, they must meet certain course requirements. These course requirements include passing the different science, english, history, and math classes given in each year. If a student fails to pass all these courses, he or she must take that class again during the summer and pass it or else he or she must repeat the year. We can't just have kids coming into school without any previous education."

"How do you know that our kids don't have any previous education?"

The lady blushed. "I read that Roxas had an education up until the fourth grade in a biography. As for Kairi, when I watched the Late Night Show a few days ago, I kind of assumed that she didn't really go to school because of the information she gave."

I felt embarrassed. This lady was assuming that I was an uneducated superstar because of my interview on the Late Night Show, and, oh, was she right... Sadly.

My father sighed. "What if we told you that our kids are actually educated enough to attend this school?"

"You really think they are?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe so."

One benefit of being a good actor was that you could be a fantastic liar.

The lady thought for a moment. "Well, I can't enroll them here based off what you think. It's against our school's policy. In order for kids to be placed in their proper grade level, the school must see actual proof that the kids have the necessary education."

I breathed out in relief. I thought that I didn't have to attend public school.

"However..."

Of course, until another pathway was opened.

"Due to the school's new system, parents are able to enroll their kids into Destiny Islands High via online. If you do it that way, your kids can take the online entry test so that the school could see if your child is capable of attending high school. If you want to have Kairi and Roxas attend this school, then I suggest you do the enrollment that way."

"Alright, we'll go with that option," said Zack. "Is there a library here? We want to get them enrolled as soon as possible."

"There is, but it's closed until school starts up again. There's a library right down the road, though. Um, but, before you go, could I get your autographs?"

...

In the Kahlea Local Library, after my father and Zack went through all the necessary parental stuff on the Destiny Island High School's website, Roxas and I were sitting at the computers about to take the online entry test. The library was fairly empty, but there were a few people walking around looking at books and reading at tables. It was a small library with only thirty bookcases that were filled with books ranging from 'Ye Olde Literature' to 'Pop Culture of the 21st Century' (I only called this library small because of the humongous library back at the Big Island).

We had to fill out all the simple questions first. I'll show you what it looked like:

_What's your name?:_ Kairi Strife

_What grade are you going into?:_ 10th

_What/where was your previous education?:_ Home school

The multiple-choice questions given on the entry test depended on which grade you were planning to go into. In order to have passed the test, you must have achieved a score of eighty-five percent or higher.

Oh, and don't ask about the 'home school' part. My father told me to put that down.

"Hey, Roxas," I whispered. "Help me out on this test, will you?"

"I won't be better at this than you will be, but sure," he whispered back. "Can't have one fail and the other pass."

"What if we don't know the answer to a question?"

"Kairi, that will be the case for almost all of them. We'll just have to give it our best guess. We'll just put down the same answer for each question, okay?"

_Forty minutes and thirty-five questions later..._

"I cannot believe this," I groaned.

"What's the matter?" asked Roxas. "We just guessed our way into getting an eighty-nine percent on that test. Isn't that awesome? We're going to high school together!"

"I was actually kind of hoping that we wouldn't pass."

"C'mon, Kairi. You were the one that said that you wanted to experience the life of an average teenager yourself. Now you get your chance!"

"I didn't actually want to do it by going to high school."

He patted me on the shoulder. "We'll go through it together. Who knows? Maybe you might enjoy it."

We walked up to our fathers outside of the library. "Hello, my high school student," my father greeted, "What classes did you choose?"

"Other than the sophomore english, science, math, and history classes, I chose art, drama, and Spanish," I told him.

"Drama? Kairi, you're going to blow the other students out of the water in that class. Why didn't you pick something else?"

"I didn't want to take anything else."

Zack looked at Roxas. "You didn't sign-up for drama too, did you?"

Roxas just whistled.

* * *

_-I almost lost this file on Microsoft Word because it kept freezing up on me. Darn that thing. I would have been really mad if I had to type up everything again from memory; I probably wouldn't be able to pull that off. Ugh, well, at least it was recovered.  
-I would like to thank my small number of new and old reviewers for giving me some feedback! I always appreciate hearing from you. I would also like to thank those that have added this story to their Story Alerts and Favorite Stories list! That made me smile :) "You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed, sing like a bird, dizzy in my head, spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night..." Uncle Kracker lyrics. I've always enjoyed listening to his songs._

_Next chapter: I can't promise you an exact date, but it won't be a long wait! Great, now I'm rhyming.  
_


	8. Meteor Shower

_Another chapter :) Happy readings! I have finally finished editing it as well, so there shouldn't be any (or 'too many,' to be safe) errors now.  
_

_DISCLAIMER: Must I repeat this every chapter? I don't own anything.  


* * *

_"Just another boring day under the sun, eh, Sora?"

"I guess so, Riku."

Out on the small island next to Kahlea, Sora and Riku were lying down on the sands of the small island's beach. The sound of the waves splashing against the shore was mixed with the cry of the seagulls floating in circles in the sky. The slight ocean breeze played with the boys' hair and sprayed small specks of sand on their bodies, tickling their cheeks.

"Now that I think of it, you're in dire need of some sun!" spoke Sora to the older boy next to him. "I don't get how someone could be so pale living on islands like these!"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm in the sun as much as you are," answered Riku. He placed his forearm next to Sora's, realizing how tan the younger boy's skin was compared to his lighter shade of brown. "I just happen to not get darker when I'm out here."

"You probably put on six layers of overprotective sunblock."

"More like none."

"Then why don't you at least have sunburn?"

"Because maybe my skin is like that white piece of paper that doesn't want to get colored on!"

Grumbling was heard a few feet away.

"Something wrong, Naminé?" asked Sora.

"Your bickering is making me lose my focus," she replied. "For my day off from work today, I'm not getting much of my painting done with you two around."

"Talented artists are able to paint in all circumstances," said Riku smartly. "Those circumstances include bickering."

"I'm trying to express the tranquility of the beach, you know! If I hear bickering, then I might go off course and accidentally express anger in the picture, which could result in me drawing a tidal wave approaching the peaceful island!"

"Alright, alright, calm down," Sora said. "You want to head up to the tree house, Riku? Looks like Naminé is trying to get in the zone."

"Yeah, sure," he replied. The two boys lifted themselves off the sand and made their way towards the grand tree in the middle of the small island. "I'm still surprised the tree house could hold up both of our weights. We made this thing like, what, almost seven years ago?"

"It's because we were such great architects when we were little that we could build a sturdy tree house like this!"

"Oh, really? I wonder who did most of the work."

"Let me think for a second... Right, I did!"

"No way! You're such a liar!"

Sora laughed. "Race you to the top!"

And the boys sprinted off. They leaped up the wooden stairs two steps at a time. Sora bounded off across the ramp, but Riku's long strides easily helped him keep up. At the end of the ramp was a ladder attached to the tree, where Sora and Riku playfully shoved and pushed at each other to see who would get to climb up first. Riku was able to knock Sora down to take the lead. Sora quickly rebounded and pulled himself up the ladder, grabbing Riku's right foot to slow down his momentum. Riku shook him off and ran across the second floor ramp with Sora on his tail. In the end, both boys dove into the tree house for the win, but Riku's long arms were able to touch ground first, making him the winner.

Sora and Riku crashed onto the floor of the tree house, both laughing while they were trying to catch their breaths. The floorboards creaked underneath them as they sat up. Sora dusted off the dirt from his pants while Riku sat still, staring out into the ocean.

"I swear I will beat you one day," affirmed Sora.

"For you to be that close to me, you probably got lucky during the race," clarified Riku. "I guess that makes one thousand and one wins for me."

"And you're the one calling me the liar! I've won a lot too, you know. That must mean I have one thousand and two wins!"

"Keep dreaming, Sora. I've beaten you in everything. You'll never reach those numbers while I'm here."

Sora walked out of the tree house onto the balcony and leaned on the wooden railings. He breathed in the fresh, salty air and felt the wind cool down his adrenaline-filled body. He looked down to see his sister still rooted to the same spot on the beach, painting smooth circles and curvy lines on a thick sheet of paper. Riku walked up beside him and rested his elbows on the railings. His aquamarine eyes continued to stare out into the horizon.

"I'm always curious as to what's out there," Riku voiced.

"Aren't we all?" said Sora. "None of us have ever ventured off into the world beyond Destiny Islands. I'm pretty sure that the same goes for all the others on Kahlea. Practically everyone is satisfied with staying on the islands."

Riku was silent.

"But, you know, we could all go on a road trip in the future," Sora offered. "You, me, and Naminé. We could go see everything!"

"Or, we could be innovative and build a raft," Riku said. "If you want to get out of the islands, you can't exactly have a road trip. There won't be a road to travel on because we're surrounded by water."

The younger boy chuckled. "Uh, yeah. That works, too."

They stood in a comfortable silence then, watching the seagulls continue to dance in the air. A few pelicans could be seen farther out into the distance scanning the ocean for any signs of fish. Beyond the hunting pelicans was a small ferry slowly making its way towards Kahlea.

"Looks like the ferry is making its roundabout," stated Sora.

"It probably just came from the island with the kids who own million-dollar pencils," mocked Riku. "Oh, and I forgot to say this: I told you so!"

"Huh? Told me what?"

"Remember when I said that Kairi Strife probably didn't know how to ride a bicycle? Well, on the Late Night Show a few nights ago, she said so herself!"

Sora's eyes remained on the ferry. "That's a shame. Riding a bike is one of the best things to do to pass the time."

"Her and all her other actor friends probably think that their Mercedes cars are advanced forms of bikes."

"You make it sound like they've done something bad to you."

"Nah, they wouldn't even think about messing with me."

"So, what's the problem?"

"I just hate the idea of little babies like them taking over the entertainment business. They have replaced the classic cartoons and are now corrupting the brains of all the children watching them!"

"At least they're making loads of money off their 'corruption.'" Sora sighed. He rested his chin on his palm. "If we had jobs like that, Naminé and I wouldn't have to struggle with keeping our parents' house. Those Children's Services agents are just waiting for the day we get kicked out so that they could put us in some rundown orphanage."

"Hey now, don't think like that. You were able to make ends meet by yourself for the past two years. Now your sister is going to help with her job down at the Barrel."

Sora looked down at his sister, whom remained painting on the beach. "I just wish that she didn't have to busy herself with work these days. She wants to become a famous painter, yet hours are now going to be taken off from her days to go to work."

"She doesn't have to work on becoming a painter, Sora. That girl has a natural talent for making masterpieces. We'll just have to wait for the day when someone notices her."

The two boys looked out towards the ocean once again. Over at Kahlea Island, Sora noticed that the ferry had come to port. There was a good number of people gathered around the pier as if something significant had occurred.

"That's strange," stated Sora. "Look over at the pier, Riku. What's with the small crowd?"

"Last time there was a small crowd, Cloud Strife came to visit our island," said Riku, bored. "If I could guess, it's probably him again."

"Man! He's over there, and we're over here? I never get to meet any celebrities!"

"It's not that big of a deal, spikehead. He's just a blonde guy with enough money to buy a ranch full of flying unicorns."

"But, he's an awesome actor who is married to a top-charted singer! Wouldn't it be cool to meet the guy in person?"

"Eh, not really."

"You're just saying that. We all know that, deep down inside, you want to meet him and ask him to sign his name on your forehead."

Before Riku could land a punch on Sora, Naminé called out from below.

"Hey, you two!" she hollered. "I think I'll stop my project early for today. Can we go back over to the main island? I could surely enjoy some air conditioning."

...

"Dang, we missed him," said Sora dejectedly. Right after Naminé wanted to go back to the main island, Sora tried to hustle across the ocean to the pier on his wooden raft to try to get a glimpse of Cloud Strife. His efforts turned out to be unsuccessful. Riku and Naminé floated up behind him.

"Seeing the guy isn't going to make your life any better," pointed out Riku, hopping out of his raft. He grabbed the rope that was sitting in his raft and began to tie it to the pier. Naminé got off her raft and started to do the same.

"He probably wants to ask him about his red-headed daughter," she teased.

"Why do you two keep bugging me about that?" her brother complained. "Just because I said she looked pretty on that show last year doesn't mean that I'm in love with her!"

Riku started to make kissy faces. "Sora likes the girls with money and strawberry hair!"

Sora blushed and turned away. "It's not like that!"

"Aw, look, he's blushing!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Naminé sighed. "For two boys that are supposed to be older and more wise than I am, you guys surely act immature."

Sora huffed. "Well, you guys started it."

"Where should we go now?" asked Riku, acting as if the argument had never happened.

"Let's go ask Mr. Mickey," replied Naminé. "He always knows where to go."

The trio made their way across the wooden planks towards the asphalted street at the beginning of the pier where Mr. Mickey's information booth sat. Inside the booth, Mr. Mickey was fanning himself off with a magazine. A fan was turned on and the door at the back of his booth was open, revealing the beach behind him.

"Is it that hot in here, Mr. Mickey?" asked Riku as he and the siblings strolled up to the counter.

"Oh, hey, you guys," greeted Mr. Mickey. "It has been hot in here for a while. I just decided to take a few minutes to cool off."

"That's what we're about to do. Got any ideas?"

"Welp, you could go to the Barrel, but you guys probably have been there enough already. Um, there's also that ice cream shop down the road. If you don't wanna go there, the Game Center is right beside it."

"I kind of want some ice cream," said Naminé. "What about you two?"

"I could sure use some sweet, sugary goodness," Sora agreed. "I guess that means Riku is coming along, then!"

Said boy rolled his eyes. "I never even got to vote."

"If you're gonna swing by again later, would you mind getting me some?" asked Mr. Mickey. "I'll pay ya back."

"Sure thing," answered Sora. "We'll hook you up."

Sora, Riku, and Naminé started to walk off until Mr. Mickey called them back. "Hey, before you go, did you guys hear?"

They all turned to him. "About what?" asked Naminé.

"Cloud Strife is visiting the islands as we speak—"

"We kind of figured that," Riku interrupted, crossing his arms. "Sora and I saw a small gathering here when we were at our island."

"But, the bigger news is that he's here with his daughter, Kairi, and Zack and Roxas Fair," finished Mr. Mickey.

Naminé's eyes widened. "Roxas Fair is here?" she asked, surprised. "Since when did he ever get off the Big Island?"

"Look at who's curious about little ol' Roxas," teased Sora.

"I never said I was interested in him!"

Sora smirked. "You make fun of me about Kairi, so I'll make fun of you about blonde-boy."

"Why are they here?" asked Riku, ignoring the argument going on beside him.

Mr. Mickey shrugged. "They wanted to go see Destiny Islands High."

"They're probably thinking about buying it."

"I don't think so. Cloud was telling me about how he and Zack wanted Kairi and Roxas to go to school here."

Mr. Mickey was met with silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the crashing of the waves onto the shore and the flipping and flopping of slippers on the pier. Mr. Mickey examined the teenagers giving him blank stares, watching as their mouths slowly fell open.

Sora, Riku, and Naminé looked at each other, confusion written all over their faces. Sora scratched his head while Riku contemplated and Naminé stared. Then, all of a sudden, they bursted out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Mr. Mickey asked.

"We're sorry, it's just... Those actors? Coming here?" laughed Riku. "Get real! What would make them want to come here? Actually, a better question would be what would make them want to go to _school_?"

"Beats me. It's just what they told me."

"They were probably messing with you, Mr. Mickey. We'll catch you later!"

The three teenagers finally walked away from Mr. Mickey's booth, still laughing and making joke of Kairi Strife and Roxas Fair coming to their island. To them, the idea of two rich, well-known actors attending a public high school seemed to be completely insane.

They walked three blocks down the street until they reached a small, red-and-white-colored building with a revolving door. On the front of the building was a sign that read "Uncle Scrooge's" with images of ducks holding ice cream cones surrounding the words. The design of the building resembled that of a classic diner, with see-through windows exposing the ice cream bar inside.

Sora, Riku, and Naminé pushed their way through the revolving door and walked up to the counter, feeling the cold chill from the air conditioning flow across their skin. They looked down through the glass at the rainbow world below them, with ice cream buckets filled to the rim that offered a variety of flavors. There were thirty buckets, ranging from the simple Vanilla to the multi-colored sherbets.

Behind the counter was a man that looked like he was in his late fifties. He was bald at the top of his scalp, but still had winter white hair growing at the sides of his head. He wore spectacles that were held in place by a piece that attached to his right ear. He was walking around with a blue cane, though it looked as if he did not need it to assist him.

"Welcome to Uncle Scrooge's!" he greeted, taking his place by the ice cream buckets. "How may I help you today?"

"The name of the store reminds me of a Christmas cartoon character from a long time ago," Sora said. "I remember the character being an old, grumpy duck."

"Sora, could you focus on picking ice cream, please?" Naminé queried. She turned to the man and gave him an apologetic smile. "Ignore my brother, sir. He just likes to express the thoughts of his malfunctioning brain at times."

The old man smiled. "No worries, young lady, people have come up to me and have said the same thing to me about the cartoon. And there is no need to call me sir. You can call me Scrooge; I'm the owner of this place."

Sora gulped. "Oh... Um, sorry about what I said, Mr. Scrooge. I didn't mean any offense."

"None taken, m'boy!"

"There's so much ice cream," commented Riku, changing the subject. "It's hard for me to just pick one."

"You don't need to just pick one flavor. I could mix it up for you, if you'd like."

Riku gawked. "Are you serious?"

"Of course!"

"Your store is my new favorite."

"But, you haven't tried anything yet," stated Sora.

"Doesn't matter. The guy is offering me multiple flavors. That's an immediate favorite."

Naminé tilted her head towards her brother's ear and whispered, "Hasn't he realized that he could get different flavors of ice cream on one cone at every ice cream store?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't think so," he mouthed to her.

"Which flavors would you like?" asked Scrooge. He grabbed an ice cream scooper from a small bucket filled with warm water.

"I think I'll take a scoop of Cookies n' Cream and another of Mint Chocolate Chip on a cone," Riku ordered.

"I just want one scoop of Chocolate, please," Naminé added in.

Scrooge dipped the ice cream scooper into the buckets and dug out large, perfectly round spheres of ice cream. He took the ice cream and carefully pressed them into the cones. When finished, he handed the towering, two-flavored ice cream cone to Riku and the adequately sized coned to Naminé.

"And what would you like?" he asked Sora, whom was busy eyeballing a certain ice cream bucket in the corner.

"Could you tell me what that ice cream is?" Sora requested, pointing at the creamy blue substance in the bucket.

"Why, that's my newest creation! I call it Sea-Salt Ice Cream. Would you like to give it a try? You'd be my first customer to taste it!"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. I'll have a scoop of that."

Scrooge excitedly scooped up a nice ball of his Sea-Salt Ice Cream and pushed it into the cone. "The taste might surprise you," he informed as he handed it to Sora. "It's unlike anything you've ever tried before. I guarantee it."

Sora stuck out his tongue and licked the ice cream, immediately pulling his tongue back once he tasted it. "It's salty!" he exclaimed. However, his eyes began to enlarge and a smile was forming on his face. "But, it's really, really sweet."

Scrooge smiled along with him. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" Sora hungrily continued to lick the ice cream. "It's like I can't stop eating it!"

"I probably need to advertise that ice cream more often."

An idea formed in Sora's head. "We could help you with that. Hey, guys, didn't Mr. Mickey want some ice cream?"

...

It was now late afternoon. Sora and Naminé had already said their goodbyes to Riku and were now walking down the street towards the neighborhoods on the western side of the island. The sun was beginning its descent into the ocean, rays of red and orange emanating from it into the sky. The waves were calm and a few seagulls were scavenging the beach for any remnants of food left by the beachgoers.

After crossing an intersection and walking down two blocks, the two siblings stopped at an average one-story house. It was painted a pearl white color with brown shudders and a tiled roof. The yard was uneven with different patches of grass growing taller than others. A few flowers and small bushes were planted around the house, giving the outside some color.

Sora and Naminé walked up the small steps of the porch and made their way into the house. In the middle of the house was a family room with doors that went to the kitchen. Around the family room were other opened doors that led to a bathroom, a laundry room, and two bedrooms. One of the doors was closed.

Sora sprawled himself onto the couch and placed his hands behind his head. He let out a long sigh. "Long day," he said.

His sister walked across the room and entered one of the bedrooms. "You're just lazy," she replied. "Every day is a long day for you."

"Sorry that I do more than just sit around on a beach and paint the whole morning." He yawned. "By the way, what did you do with your painting?"

"I put it where I normally put my unfinished pieces. It's in the cave."

"Oh. Gotcha."

Sora yawned again. He opened his eyes and looked up towards the fan on the ceiling. He watched as each of its blades went around in a circle over and over again. The whir of the blades reached his ears, calming his senses and making his body feel more relaxed. He allowed the feeling of home to sink-in.

"Don't you have to go to work in a few hours?" Naminé called out from her room.

The feeling of home began to fade away from him. "You just had to remind me."

"It's better that I remind you than having you lose out on your pay because you slept too long. Go ahead and rest up for a bit. I'll wake you up on time."

"Thanks, Naminé."

He let out another long sigh. As his breathing went back to a slow rhythm, he drifted off into a world of unconsciousness.

...

"Sora!" Naminé yelled. "Sora, wake up!"

"A few more minutes," he mumbled, rolling over on the couch. He hugged the pillow he was lying on. "A few more minutes... Just a few more."

"No, wake up, wake up!" She tried shaking him. When that didn't work, she began to prod him in different spots of his body.

She was met with a snore. '_I'll just have to go with the last resort,_' she thought as she shook her head. She bent down with her head close to his ear and said, "You're late for work."

"What?" Sora screamed, jumping off the couch. "No way! Naminé, you said that you would wake me up!"

"I just did, Sora. And you're not late for work, so calm down."

"Then why did you wake me up? I was feeling nice and comfy."

"Because, when I was watching the news, one of the reporters said that there was going to be a meteor shower really soon!"

Sora's eyes bulged. "A meteor shower?"

"Yeah! I wanted to wake you up so that we could go out to our island and watch it. I didn't want you to miss it."

"Does Riku know about it?"

"I called him when I saw the news. He told me to wake you up and meet him at the island in five minutes."

Sora looked up at the clock. It was half past eight. "As long as the meteor shower comes before nine, then I'll be okay. C'mon, Naminé, I'll race you to the pier!"

"You know that I won't be able to keep up with you!"

"Get in shape!"

Sora and Naminé exited their house and ran down the dark streets of their neighborhood. They followed the streetlights that led them into the town. People were setting up chairs on the street with cameras and binoculars at the ready, waiting for the meteor shower to come; a few people were standing on the rooftops with microscopes.

They continued running on the street towards the pier where their wooden rafts waited for them. There were only two left, meaning that Riku had already gone to the other island. They untied their rafts and paddled over to their island, which was illuminated by the moon and stars shining above them. Cool sea water splashed their skin as they paddled fast in hopes of reaching the island before the meteor shower began.

Once they reached the small pier on the other island, the two quickly tied up their rafts and ran across the sand towards the wooden bridge that connected to the islet. They walked across the bridge and spotted their silver-haired friend leaning on the base of a palm tree that grew horizontally. Sora took a seat to the right of Riku and Naminé sat by her brother.

"Finally decided to show up, I see," Riku said.

"I just woke up," replied Sora, rubbing his eyes for emphasis. "It took me a while to kick myself into gear to get over here."

"I think your 'gear' is a bit rusty."

"Whatever."

Naminé giggled. She stared up into the sky. "I wonder when the meteor shower will start," she said. "I can't wait to see it."

"Good thing we're not going to miss it," stated Riku. "This will be the first one we'll see. It could even be our last."

"Aw, man, and we forgot to bring binoculars!" Sora groaned. "I probably should have grabbed one from one of the people we passed by."

"And totally deny that person the chance of seeing it up close?" Naminé said. "That would be mean!"

Riku sighed. "Good thing I came prepared, then." He pulled out a pair of binoculars from his vest. "If I had known you were going to forget them, I would have brought more. We'll just share this one."

Naminé then gasped. "Riku, let me see those really quick!"

He handed them over. Naminé quickly snatched it from his hand and immediately put it up to her face, scanning the sky above. Sora and Riku looked up and, to their surprise, saw tiny sparkling streaks of gold soaring across the sky.

"It's starting, you guys," Naminé breathed. "Wow. It looks amazing up close."

"Toss the binoculars over," Riku commanded. Naminé, not taking her eyes off the scene above her, dropped the binoculars from her face and held it out for Riku. He raised the binoculars to his face and zoomed in on the gold streaks.

"Well, would you look at that," he said. "It's like watching a space ship fall through the atmosphere, only prettier."

Sora sweatdropped. "Uh, that's a good comparison... I suppose."

Riku handed him the binoculars. "See for yourself. You'll think the same thing, too."

Sora placed the binoculars over his eyes and drew his attention towards the streaks up in the sky. He twisted the lens so that he could get a closer view and, sure enough, spotted a meteor encased in a ring of fire flying across space. There were many other meteors bolting past it, almost as if they were racing. He followed the meteor downward until the fire around it vanished, making it disappear from sight.

Worried that he lost track of the meteor shower, he tried to locate another one but found it difficult because of how zoomed in the binoculars were. Without thinking about twisting the lens again to zoom it out, Sora moved the binoculars around until he found another source of light, thinking it was another meteor.

Unfortunately for him, it was a ferry traveling across the sea.

Curious about who was riding the ferry at this time of night, Sora attempted to examine its occupants. Inside of the ferry on the second floor, he spotted a few of the ferry workers playing cards or watching television. There were others that were chatting with each other around the room, and one of the workers exited the bathroom. He moved onto the people riding on the deck of the ferry and found a majority of the people pointing at the sky, probably watching the meteor shower. There were a few others that seemed disinterested in the event occurring in the sky for they were watching the sea roll by underneath them.

However, as Sora scanned the front of the ferry, his eyes settled on the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

At the front of the ferry was a teenage girl leaning on the railings while looking up towards the sky. Her startingly red hair smoothly flew out behind her as the ferry moved across the ocean. Her violet eyes sparkled with the stars and the meteor shower above her, and her lightly-colored skin was illuminated by the moon, just like the island that the three teenagers were sitting on. Her face held the expression of curiosity and wonder as she watched the meteors dance in the sky.

Sora's breath got caught in his throat. He knew that she was pretty on screen, but he never knew how gorgeous she was in real life.

"Sora?" spoke Riku. "You're supposed to be watching the meteor shower, not some ferry crawl on the water."

"Other people here have better things to see," commented Naminé.

"This is something better to see," Sora said, mesmerized. "Something way better than a meteor shower."

Riku and Naminé shared a confused glance with each other. Riku mouthed, "What's wrong with him?" to her. Naminé answered with a shrug.

"Kairi Strife," Sora continued, "has got to be the most beautiful being to ever walk this planet."

* * *

_-Yay, Sora has finally seen Kairi in real life! What's going to happen next? You'll find out... Eventually, I suppose.  
-In case you guys didn't catch it, in the Kingdom Hearts game, Sora first met Kairi on the night of the meteor shower, so I kind of wanted their first 'meeting' to be like that even though they didn't excatly interact with each other. There are also a few other references in here that will become significant later on the story. Hehe, I'm not giving out too much, am I? :D  
-I hope everyone is having a wonderful day today. For those of you that are out of school already, I'm completely jealous of you. I don't get out until the end of June._

_Next chapter: Some day at some time.  
_


	9. Another Movie

_This chapter isn't very big, but here is the update. I still have two more weeks of school left... Boooo. Get me out of here!_

_DISCLAIMER: IF ONLY I OWNED SOMETHING.  


* * *

_Three days had passed since Roxas and I got through our entry exams and selected our class courses. My father was still worried about me taking drama class; he strongly believed that other kids would think that I was trying to shove that I was a professional into their faces and they weren't. Zack was the same about Roxas, but we both stood our ground and declared that we would keep the class no matter what excuse they would try to come up with. We needed a class that we were at least most familiar with.

It was around noon when Roxas and I received letters from Destiny Islands High School, meaning that our enrollments were finalized and that we were officially the school's captives. The letter was handwritten, apparently by the principal himself, stating how excited he was about us attending his school, the happiness he felt when we chose it, and how lucky and honored he felt. His handwriting seemed close to perfection for his letters were perfectly rounded and his sentences were completely straight, never sinking downward or rising up, which made me think that he must have taken his sweet, precious time on that letter. I felt bad for him because I threw it in the recycling bin rather than attached it to the refrigerator with a magnet that said 'SPECIAL' on it.

"Kairi!" gasped Rikku, fetching the letter from the bin. "What are you doing? This is your acceptance letter!"

Of course, there was always that one person in the house that wanted to keep it.

"You shouldn't get rid of your letter," said Yuffie. "You should hang it up somewhere so that others could see your accomplishment!"

Actually, make that two people.

"I've accomplished things way greater than getting accepted into a public high school," I told them, rolling my eyes. "Why would I want to keep that letter?"

"Well, I'm going to keep it," Rikku professed. "Who knows how much this letter would be worth if I auction it in the future? I could make a fortune!"

"You already make a fortune from working for me."

"Then you can call it 'adding onto the fortune!'"

"I doubt anyone would want to buy Kairi's high school acceptance letter," stated Yuffie. "The only thing that would be authentic about it would be the principal's signature. No one cares about that."

Rikku let out a 'hmph' and turned away. "Fine! I'll keep it in my scrapbook! I'll show people that I took part in getting Kairi into school!"

I shook my head. "Do what you want with that letter. You could make it into a kite and have the birds nibble at it for all I care."

"There's no way I'll let those stinkin' birds mess with this letter! It must be clean and crisp at all times!"

"You're already wrinkling it."

"At least I'm the one wrinkling it, not someone else!"

This time, Yuffie shook her head. "Your reasoning for everything is horrible, Rikku."

We continued to chat amongst ourselves in the kitchen until Roxas, Axel, and Tidus came walking in. Strangely, their hair was all frizzy and was sticking up in different directions all over the place, looking like tangled brushes.

"And what were you boys doing?" questioned Yuffie, looking at their hair with disapproving eyes. Knowing her, she probably wanted to pretty up their heads.

"We were rough housing a bit," answered Axel with a triumphant grin. "Tidus and I ganged up on the future school boy here and totally whooped his ass. We were trying to show him some self-defense in case he needed it in school, but being the pretty boy that he is, he didn't know how to put up a fight."

I began to feel nervous. Axel had already been through two years of high school, and since he was trying to teach Roxas how to defend himself against people who would want to beat him up, I then started to doubt that going to school was a safe idea. How could a jellybean like me last in that sort of environment?

Rikku looked at me with wide eyes then turned to glare at Axel. "Shut your mouth, cherry hair! Are you trying to freak Kairi out or something? When I was at Destiny Islands High, no one was beaten up or attacked!"

Yuffie put a hand to her chin. "But, there was that one time—"

"No, there wasn't!" Rikku yelled, slapping her hand to Yuffie's mouth. "You were probably thinking of something that happened when you were in Twilight Town!"

"Axel wasn't trying to freak Kairi out," defended Tidus. "He was just telling you what we were doing. You asked, he answered."

At that moment, Selphie and Larxene walked in with four large bags. They set the bags on the table that Rikku, Yuffie, and I were sitting around, making a large 'thud' sound as they hit the surface.

"What did you two buy this time?" I asked them.

"Larxene probably bought a whole bunch of stuffed animals so she wouldn't be lonely at night," Axel stated, smirking.

Said girl eyeballed Axel furiously. I swore that I could feel electricity zapping out from her dark pupils. "I recommend that you sleep with your eyes open tonight."

"What's the worst you could do to me?"

She looked over to the set of knives sitting at the kitchen counter. Axel gulped. It always worried me when Larxene went to the extremes because I was never sure if she actually was going to follow through on her threats.

"No, there aren't any stuffed animals in these bags," clarified Selphie. "Larxene and I decided to go to the local department store and pick up some school supplies! Larxene did most of the item choosing because I had no idea what schools required."

"School supplies?" Roxas repeated.

"That's what I said!" She dumped out the contents of each bag onto the table. There were many small binders, spiraled notebooks, and folders, all of which were different colors. There were two calculators, one being white with a few pink designs on it (which I guessed Selphie bought for me) and the other simply being red and black. One of the bags was completely filled with packets of lined paper. I couldn't tell you how many pens and pencils there were since the size of the pile it made was equivalent to that of an extra large, family-sized popcorn bucket.

"Are all of these really necessary?" I asked, referring to the gigantic pile of writing utensils.

"Probably not," answered Selphie, "but we liked all the colors that each one came in and the cute little images that were on some of them, so we bought all the ones that caught our eye!"

They were worse than the mothers that I had seen go crazy looking for school supplies when I went to the department store with my mother two years ago. You think mothers go overboard with school shopping? Meet my happy-go-lucky best friend and my maid with the dangerous temper.

"Looks like you two will have enough supplies that will last you for five years," Yuffie said to Roxas and I.

The phone rang. Larxene quickly walked over to the phone that was nailed to our wall and answered it (I have forgotten to mention that she acted as our personal secretary; we didn't actually assign her the job, but she liked to answer phones, so we gave her permission to answer all the calls we got).

"Hello, you've reached the Strife residence," she said. "Oh, hi there, Mr. Auron!"

Auron Black was the guy that you could call my personal manager. He had been my personal manager ever since my name hit the big screen and had been the one that got me into the roles that I had starred in. You could say that he was the one that worked behind-the-scenes for me since he dealt with negotiations, my long-term career planning, and other frustrating business that went on in the entertainment industry.

"You want to talk to Cloud?" went on Larxene. "He should be around here somewhere... Okay... Yeah, I'll get him on the line."

Larxene pressed the hold button and turned to us. "Have any of you seen Cloud around here?"

"I saw him in the bar room playing pool with Leon, Barret, and my dad a few minutes ago," replied Roxas. "They should still be over there. Their game didn't even look close to finished."

The blond maid took her leave. We all went back to the school supplies; Rikku was digging through everything and making comments about each item she picked up while Yuffie was trying to organize the items so that she could evenly distribute them to Roxas and I.

I went over to the bag full of lined paper and pulled out a heavy stack. I then shifted my eyes over to the excessive amount of spiraled notebooks that were purchased. As my eyes floated between the two items, I began to feel a bit confused.

"Those notebooks have lots of paper in them, right?" I asked Selphie.

"Uh huh," she answered me. "Some of the larger ones have brown cardboard-like things in them. I think they're called dividers."

"If they all have paper in them, then there really was no need in buying all of these!"

"Larxene said that some teachers prefer papers that don't have... Uh, what are they called... They're that frilly stuff..."

"Perforation?" said Rikku.

Yuffie slapped her on the back in a congratulating manner. "That's the biggest word you've said in two years!"

I groaned. "It's just paper, though."

"Hey, don't look at me," Selphie said, shrugging. "You'll just have to find out the importance of none-frilly paper when you go to school."

I reached for the white and pink calculator across the table and slid off the cover, revealing many numbers and symbols that I had not believed to exist. There were many buttons that had more than one math notation on them, and above some of these buttons were the letters of the alphabet written in green. My mind spun as I took in the strangeness and complicatedness of the small electronical device that was in my hands.

"What are all these buttons supposed to stand for?" I managed to say. I pressed a whole bunch of random buttons and hit 'ENTER' at the bottom right of the calculator, resulting in the calculator saying 'ERROR' and a whole bunch of other stuff I did not comprehend. I tried again and somehow ended up with a really long number that stretched across the screen.

"Xion is good with calculators," stated Yuffie. "I never understood anything about that contraption. If you ever need help with it, just ask the sister upstairs."

Roxas picked up his calculator and began playing with it. "For some reason, my calculator is drawing a circle and a bunch of lines," he said when his fingers were finished dancing on top of the calculator. "I can't seem to make it stop doodling. Calculators aren't supposed to doodle!"

"That's because you put in a whole bunch of numbers and letters and clicked 'GRAPH,' you yellow pinecone," Axel told him.

I had no idea what was going on.

"Kairi!" my father called out from afar. The sound of his shoes thumping on the stairs reached my ears. "Get ready to leave in five minutes. We have to go see Auron."

"What for?" I asked, my attention still drawn to the interesting equipment in front of me.

"Business." He walked into the kitchen and eyed all of us gathered at the table. "Drop your new toy and put some slippers on or something. I want to get to him while he's still sober."

...

Over at the Destiny Island Studios Management building, which was conveniently built next door to Destiny Islands Studios, my father and I were sitting in two separate chairs in front of a large mahogany desk in a large office on the eleventh floor (there were thirteen in all). A widescreen computer was placed to the right side of the desk, showing a stack of papers laying on top of a big calendar in front of where the owner of the desk sits. Behind the desk was a squeaky-clean window wall that looked down towards the bustling streets below. At both sides of the room were filing cabinets and shelves full of books, manuals, and a bunch of papers that I could not imagine dealing with.

I leaned back in my cushiony chair and and looked at the fan buzzing quietly above me, spinning around at a moderate pace. Since I was bored and had nothing else to do, I picked one of the blades swinging in the circle and started to count how many times it revolved. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight—

"We probably didn't catch him in time."

Of course, I had to be distracted by my father from the only activity that was saving me from boredom.

"It's not like he gets completely wasted every day," I told him with a slightly annoyed edge in my voice. I was hoping to reach a high number with my counting, but my hopes were crushed.

"He carries that multi-gallon jug around with him everywhere," he pointed out. "I guarantee you that he drains that thing three times a day."

"Wouldn't you think he'd be dead by now if he did that?"

"He probably has a high tolerance level."

I heard the door behind us close. "Afternoon, Cloud and Kairi," called out a gruff voice.

"Hey, Auron," my father and I greeted without turning our heads. We could recognize that voice anywhere.

Auron walked around to his rolling chair at his desk. He flapped out his silky red robe, which revealed the excessively large jug that my father and I were talking about earlier, and sat down in his chair. He leaned back casually and tilted his glasses downward to put his eyes on us.

"You seem to be holding up okay," voiced my father.

"Ah, you thought I was drinking, did you, Cloud?" Auron asked, a crooked, small smile forming on his lips. "I might have had a few swigs or so, but nothing too serious. My brain will function normally."

"Good. I didn't want to deal with a crazy drunk."

"Didn't you hear me speaking on the phone? I sounded sober enough."

"So, what brings me here today?" I asked Auron. "There isn't anything bad going on, is there?"

"Cloud didn't tell you?"

"No. He always tends to surprise me when it comes to business." My father snorted at my comment.

"It's nothing bad, I assure you." He lifted the papers off his calendar and glided his finger across the numbered boxes. A bunch of scrawls were shoved into the spaces. "There are just some complications with your schedule now that you're going to school."

"What kind of complications?"

"There isn't anything too big, but in November," he flipped to November's page, "I got you into another movie role as the female lead, which could take up a considerable amount of time, meaning that school might be an issue."

I was celebrating on the inside, but I started to feel bad. From what I knew, Zack and Tifa were able to keep Roxas out of big movie roles throughout the school year so that he could go to school. I kind-of-pretty-much-maybe-so promised Roxas that we would stick together in high school, so if I decided to drop out to do this movie that Auron got me into, Roxas would be mad at me for a long period of time.

Though reluctant, I wanted to keep my promise, so I said, "Is there some sort of way that we could work around this?"

"Well, the only option I could think of was to work the movie immediately after the school day ends, but the work load might be overwhelming," Auron answered.

"Why would it be overwhelming? Once the school day is over, there's nothing to worry about after that, right?"

"Unless I'm misinformed, teachers do give out homework, Kairi."

I sighed. The word 'homework' didn't sound too appealing to me. "I can't just back out of school, though. I already got in and set my classes up."

"Instead of going immediately, could we give Kairi a one hour break after school before she begins her filming?" my father posed. "That's not asking much."

"I can propose the idea, but I can't promise you anything," Auron said. "The director is the one that has the final say."

"Who's the director?" I asked him.

"Sephiroth Delgado."

My father tensed. The relationship between my father and Sephiroth Delgado was not a pretty one; they've been at each other's throats since high school. It was a coincidence that they both joined and retired from the military at the same time_, _yet what really bothered them both was how they entered the entertainment business at the same time as well. The two of them started as actors and were hired to star in a movie titled _Advent Children_, where Sephiroth was some insane guy with an extremely long sword while my father played the role of the protagonist. The viewers commented on how the fighting scenes were really well done, but they didn't know that the two men were actually attempting to hurt each other. After a few more movies, Sephiroth didn't want to be in the same department as my father, so he decided to become a director.

"Why did you put Kairi under Sephiroth?" my father growled.

"He was offering big money," Auron stated calmly. "He said that Kairi would be the perfect actress to play the female lead."

"I think he's planning something."

"If he wanted to do something to you before, Cloud, then he would have done it by now."

"You know that he's always full of tricks."

I sighed. "Dad, what if I want to do this movie?"

His head turned sharply towards me, eyes flooding with disbelief. "I don't want you working for that man, Kairi."

"I know that you and him don't get along at all, but you can't expect me to endure a full year of high school without having to do any work in my career!" I argued. "My name is rising in the charts, dad. I don't want other actors to climb over me while I lay back and go to school!"

"But, I thought that taking a break from work was part of the reason that you're going to school?"

"That was the girls' idea! I mean, ugh, I'll admit that I'm curious about how different my life is compared to other teenagers, but I don't want to completely separate myself from acting. I have a lot of fans out there always waiting for something new to come out. I can't just go on a complete break."

Auron leaned forward on his desk with his elbows supporting the weight of his head. "So, what do you say, Cloud? Your daughter wants to give Sephiroth a try. I'm still willing to try to get time between her school and the filming."

Though my father kept a straight face, I could tell that he still didn't like the idea. I opened my mouth to convince him that I would be okay, but he held up his hand and sighed in defeat.

"If you want to do this, Kairi, then I won't stop you," he said. "However, I do not want to hear you complain about anything, you hear?"

I smiled. "I can handle it."

Auron moved his hand over to the stack of papers on his desk and picked up two thick packets, handing them to my father and I. These packets were normally typed up by Auron and his staff, informing me about the movie I would be working in, giving me some background on the directors and his crew, and what to expect.

"I don't have all the information about who's going to be working with you," said Auron, "but I've been told that these actors are very well-known and are a few of the best around. Kairi, you'll be working with top-notch people, so I hope that you will learn a lot from them and improve yourself as an actress."

"That sounds great," I expressed. "I can't wait to see who I'll be working with!"

...

"You're going to be doing another movie?" asked Yuffie disappointedly as I took a sip of my lemonade. Selphie, the girls, and I were sitting in the music room in the basement, each with a different instrument in our hands. "Aren't you going to be busy?"

"I'm a busy type of person," I told her. I strummed the guitar that I was holding.

"Your mind is going to be so clogged up with work that you won't be able to enjoy all the simple things in life that we want you to experience!" cried out Rikku. "You're ruining our plan with this movie, Kairi!"

"I'll be in school for two months before I begin movie production. That should be enough time for me to see all this stuff that you're talking about."

"Not really," mumbled Xion.

Yuna idly played a few notes on the keyboard. "Looks like we'll be going back to work, too."

Paine groaned. "I kind of wanted a break."

"I'm sorry, okay?" I said. "I know that you want me to fully experience the teen life, but I can't just be thrown into a life of simplicity. I want to stay connected to my acting career." They all were about to say something, but my mind reading abilities kicked in and I said, "High school drama class and professional acting are not the same thing."

They rolled their eyes. I delivered a direct blow.

"Well, if this is what you want, then as your make-up artists and hair stylists, we'll be there to support you," stated Yuffie. Surprisingly, she smiled. "I hate you for allowing yourself to be placed in a movie, though."

"Don't be afraid to ask us for help!" said Xion.

All of a sudden, Rikku gasped. "School is in about two weeks, right?" We all nodded, in which she replied, "We don't have a lot of time, then! We still have to teach this dumb strawberry-haired kid the basic stuff!"

* * *

_-After re-reading this, it seems to be a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope it's okay.  
-And now, the moment that some of you have been waiting for... Kairi is going to school next chapter! WOOHOO! Let's get this story rollingggg.  
-I would like to take this moment and thank the reviewers, including the anonymous ones, for the wonderful feedback. As always, I enjoy hearing from you. I would also like to thank those that have been putting this story on their 'Story Alerts' and have been adding it to their 'Favorites' (I got a 'Favorite Author'! Thank you so much for that!)._

_Next chapter: Sometime soon. Maybe I should stop including this 'next chapter' thing because I never give exact release dates..._


	10. First Day

_Longest chapter I have ever written since I've been on fanfiction... Felt like it took me forever to finish. Writing lengthy chapters like these is unfamiliar territory for me, so I hope you excuse any mistakes you might see. I haven't quite finished editing yet, but I wanted to give you readers an update._

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own.  
_

* * *

It was the morning of the day after the first Monday of September. Unlike my usual mornings where I would take my time and relax before I went out and about in the afternoon, I was woken up at an awful time before six in the morning by five energetic girls (minus the non-energetic Paine), two of which were bouncing on my bed.

"Today's the day, sleepyhead!" screamed a high-pitched voice. I assumed that it was Yuffie screaming since I was trying to keep my eyes shut. I shoved a pillow into my face to try to block out the nettlesome noises surrounding me, but the pillow was quickly snatched away and was replaced by a bright light trying to pierce through my eyelids. I smacked the source of the light away while attempting to sit up and cracked open my eyes to glare at my sleep intruders.

"Sleeping Beauty has awakened," announced Paine, who was leaning against the wall by my door.

"What do you all want?" I said groggily. I looked over to the screen doors leading out to the balcony and saw very little light penetrating through the curtains. "It's still kind of dark out. The sun has barely risen."

"Don't you know what day it is?" asked Xion.

I thought for a moment. "Tuesday."

"Other than it being Tuesday?"

"No."

The four girls surrounding me beamed. Since my eyes were still trying to adjust, the girls' shiny teeth almost blinded me.

"Today is the first day of school!" they all bellowed.

I became fully awake at that instant. The cogs in my brain began to turn, reminding me that it was, indeed, the morning of the first day of school. I groaned and fell back into my little sea of fluffy pillows. "School is not going to start for another two hours. I'm going back to sleep."

"What are you talking about?" Rikku yelled. "Don't tell me that you've forgotten that you don't live on the same island as the high school! You have to get up earlier than everyone else so that you can get to school on time!" She placed her hand under my blankets and grabbed my ankles. Knowing what was going to happen to me, I immediately gripped the headboard of my bed and braced myself.

"It looks like she's going to resist, girls," pointed out Yuna. I suddenly felt more hands around the lower half of my legs. "Everyone pull on three. One, two—"

I was praying that my headboard wouldn't break in half.

"Three!"

And they pulled. Since the match was four to one, it was pretty much inevitable that I was going to lose, but I tried to keep my hands from not slipping. I could hear Paine lightly laughing a few feet away.

To my surprise, the pulling ceased. Thinking that I had won the match, I loosened my grip on the headboard. All of a sudden, I heard Yuffie yell, "NOW!" and the girls all pulled at me again. Because my hands were not readily in position, the girls easily dragged me off my bed and threw me onto the floor. They then pulled me up by my shirt and had me stand up straight.

"I hate all of you," I mumbled.

"Wouldn't you prefer our method of waking you up than Selphie?" said Yuffie.

I cringed at the memories that were brought back of Selphie waking me up. Selphie is a huge morning person, so if you thought that the girls' way of waking me up was unnecessary, try imagining a girl jumping up and down on my bed while bodyslamming me with a gigantic, not-so-soft teddy bear.

I guess it was safe to say that I was quite glad that she went home to Balamb the week before. Having her as a personal alarm clock was torture.

"You have to get used to waking up this early," Xion told me. "It will be like this every week from Monday to Friday."

"You're lucky that Lulu and Rinoa get up earlier than you do on a daily basis," Yuna said. "They're preparing breakfast for you as we speak."

Rikku then started to push me into my bathroom. "Go take a shower and pretty yourself up! We'll have an outfit ready for you when you come out!"

"Why can't I pick my own clothes?" I asked.

"Because it's your first day at our old high school and we want to dress you up!" Rikku squealed. She shut the door, which muffled her voice as she said, "We'll be out of your room before you're done. You better make sure that you let us see you before you go!"

Since there weren't any secret escape routes built into my bathroom, I decided to just go with the flow of things and take a shower like Rikku ordered me to. I lazily stripped down and turned on the hot water in my wide shower. I still felt sleepy, but once I stepped onto the wet tile floors and welcomed the warm water onto my body, I seemed to feel more awake and energized. My slightly stiff body became more relaxed, and I let out a pleasurable sigh as the water massaged my scalp and traveled smoothly down my strands of hair.

After doing all that was necessary in the shower, I wrapped a towel around my hair and another around my body and stepped out. Steam was floating around the ceiling of my large bathroom, but the mirrors were unaffected by fog. I checked myself over in the mirror and smiled as I looked and felt more alive than twenty minutes ago.

I opened the door and scanned my room, making sure that the girls had already left. And just like what Rikku had said, an outfit was laid out on my bed. The outfit the girls had picked out for me wasn't the normal 'look-at-the-glamorous-me' attire that I was used to wearing whenever I went out; it was simple with a pair of jean shorts yet still had a taste of high class with an elegant beige shirt and a white camisole. A set of earrings, bracelets, and a necklace were set on the bed to go along with the outfit.

I did question the attire at first, but when I threw the items on and examined myself in my mirror once again, I did look quite nice. I gently combed out my hair and let it fall straight onto my shoulders. I rubbed a sweet scented lotion onto my arms and legs to add the finishing touch to my body before I went downstairs to ease my growling stomach. Since my room and the kitchen were on opposite ends of the house, I had to walk quite a distance before I smelled the wonderful aroma of freshly cooked breakfast. I followed the aroma into the kitchen to find Lulu and Rinoa busy at the fryer while the girls were chowing down at the table. My parents were both drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning!" greeted Rinoa. "Your breakfast is almost ready." She flipped over a pancake and slid it onto a plate. Lulu then added some scrambled eggs and two slices of bacon onto the plate.

"Smells amazing," I commented. My stomach rumbled in agreement. "I never knew that you two got up this early."

"We always do," said Lulu as she handed me my plate. "We wake up around the same time as your parents, and Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Yuffie, and Xion normally get up an hour after we do. You're the only one that likes to stay under the covers a bit past nine—" She paused. "Or, maybe not. Axel, Tidus, Demyx and Larxene get up pretty late as well."

I thanked my two maids for the breakfast and quickly made my way over to the table. Once my behind made contact with the chair between my mother and Rikku, I immediately began to consume my food (in an appropriate manner, mind you; I might have been hungry, but I didn't transform into a human vaccuum).

"Are you excited?" asked my mother, smiling at me as she put the newspaper down.

"No," I answered her. "More like worried."

"Why worried?"

"Because I feel as if there will be hordes of people following me around the whole school day. I don't think I'll ever be left alone."

"You'll be fine," Xion reassured. "The news of you going to Destiny Islands High will eventually die down and people will get used to you being there."

"I doubt it."

"You don't know our high school," said Rikku. "You'll come to learn that things die pretty quickly in there."

I gasped. "So people do die in high school!"

"No, stupid! Don't let what Axel says get into your head. I meant that the latest gossip and fashions die quickly, not actual people."

"You'll be extremely popular, though," said Yuffie. "I think Roxas will get it worse than you. He'll have obsessive fangirls following him around everywhere. Guys normally don't stalk unless they want something." She eyed Yuna.

"Tidus was a different story," Yuna declared. "He had good intentions."

I was almost done with my breakfast when the doorbell rang. Rinoa excused herself to answer the door, where I heard her chat with the familiar voices of Zack and Tifa. Through the kitchen door appeared Roxas looking as bright and cheery as ever. I found out that day that he was a morning person as well.

"Ready to go, Kairi?" he asked me.

"We're leaving now?" I replied. "It's so early!"

"You have to catch the morning ferry, silly!" said my mother, taking her plate from me. "Go brush your teeth. We'll have your stuff ready."

I was going to make my way to the bathroom myself, but the girls excitedly pulled me off my chair and dragged me across the hallway into one of the first floor bathrooms. While I brushed my teeth, they made me answer some multiplication and division problems, basic island history questions, and what the organelles in a cell were (which they crammed into my brain for the past two weeks). They continued to throw questions at me as we made our way back to the front door of the house where my parents and Roxas and his parents were standing. In my mother's hand was a shoulder bag.

"Here are your things," she said as she handed me the bag. "I put in a couple of notebooks and binders along with a pencil case with your writing utensils in it. Your calculator is in the bag, too."

I thanked her. My father then patted me on the shoulder. "Have fun," he told me.

"Ah, Kairi! I almost forgot!" exclaimed Rikku behind me. I turned around to find her holding a pair of slippers. "Put these on. They match your outfit, which looks absolutely fabulous on you, by the way."

I slid into the shoes and walked out the door with Roxas and his parents. We both waved back to everyone yelling out goodbyes until we hopped into Zack and Tifa's Bentley Continental GTC and drove off through the winding downhill backroads.

I looked over at Roxas and noticed that he wasn't carrying anything. "Where's your stuff?" I asked him.

"I have a pencil here," he said, pointing to the pencil resting atop his ear. "I also have a notebook and binder in the trunk. I'll just carry it around until I get a locker."

"A locker?"

"Don't tell me that you don't know what a locker is, Kairi," voiced Tifa from the passenger's seat up front. I told her no, in which she replied, "A locker is one of the best things to have in high school! Instead of carrying everything from class to class, you can just place whatever you don't need in your locker and pick it up later when it's needed!"

"That's cool, I guess."

Tifa then talked to Roxas and I about her time in high school for the rest of the drive with a few comments added in here and there from Zack. She didn't go into a lot of detail, but she told us about her teachers and some of the activites that she did in high school. It wasn't a very interesting story (except for the part when she kicked some major ass in a boys' kickboxing club), but it at least didn't leave us driving in silence.

We arrived at the ferry station at 6:20 when the ferry was already boarding early morning passengers to Kahlea. Roxas quickly grabbed his school items and we all made our way over to the boarding ramp. Zack and Tifa said their goodbyes and wished us good luck as Roxas and I walked onto the ferry and claimed a spot at one of the side railings. The ferry was underway within five minutes and we could feel the morning ocean breeze blow across our faces as the ferry traveled away from the Big Island.

"I wonder what Destiny Islands High School is going to be like," said Roxas.

"Same here," I agreed. "But, I also kind of don't want to find out, though."

"That's what I was thinking at first, but after I gave it some more thought, I actually became more curious about what high school has in store for me."

"Why the change of heart?"

He shrugged. "I can honestly say that I do want to take a break from work. I know that you're more of a big-time entertainer than I am, but unlike you, I've been to school before, and I do actually sort of miss being around other people that act my age."

"I act your age, don't I?"

"Eh, not really. You're so gung-ho about acting."

"What? That's not true!"

"It so is, Kairi! You might complain about wanting to get a movie done when you're in the process of producing it, but when that's all finished, you're always more than eager to jump into another film. You rarely take any legit breaks. I remember when you starred in three movies, seven TV shows, and took part in over one hundred interviews in just one year. It's almost as if you're going to be more busy than both of your parents combined."

He was right. I became a busy bee as I climbed up the entertainment latter. "You're probably just as busy."

"Me? No way. I like to act my age instead of doing work all the time."

"_Act_ your age, huh? If you're acting your age, that technically means you're still doing work because you're _acting_."

"That's not what I meant."

"Well, explain it, then. How do I act my age?"

"...I can't really explain it." He stepped up onto the bottom railing and leaned over the side of the boat, pushing his hips into the top railing to keep him from falling over. His arms were spread out like wings. "It's kind of like this."

"Risking falling off the boat to look like an idiot?"

He laughed. "No, that's not it. It kind of feels like I'm flying when I do this."

Confusion consumed my brain. I didn't understand what he said.

"Ah, I'm telling you, it's difficult to explain," he said. "How about this? It's like the feeling I get when I'm hanging out with Axel. He's never completely serious about things unlike everyone I'm surrounded by whenever I'm at work. He just makes the rules as he goes and does everything that he wants to do without ever listening to the concerns of others."

I still didn't get what he was trying to say to me, but Roxas's share of information introduced me to a whole side of him I had never seen before. To me, I thought that Roxas was the same as I was: a busy teen actor with a lot of fame that completely enjoyed his career. Having him tell me that he actually preferred the downtime he got over his successful career pretty much took me by surprise. It practically showed how little I knew about Roxas even though we had been friends for a while.

"You two surely do some insane stuff when you're with each other," I said to him, referring to his comment about Axel.

"Yep."

"People could mistake you two for gay."

"Whoa, wait! There's no way that's going to happen, Kairi! Axel is just my best friend! I like girls, okay?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Roxas never took my jokes too well.

"How about you and Selphie, huh?" he mentioned. "You two are always attached at the hip. Anyone could mistake you two for gay."

My face went red. "No way! She's just my best friend! I'm attracted to the opposite sex, not the same!"

Then again, I didn't take jokes too well, either.

The ferry horn sounded, signaling our arrival on Kahlea (I concluded that morning that the ferry traveled faster than it did in the evening). We got off the boat and walked across the pier towards Mr. Mickey's booth, but it was closed.

"I was hoping that he'd be here to tell us how to get to the school," said Roxas, scratching his head. "I can't remember how to get there."

"We could ask someone on the street," I proposed.

"I thought that you didn't want to draw attention to yourself?"

"We're in a predicament here, Roxas."

We went towards the street and looked left and right to find no one in sight. "So much for that plan," Roxas groaned.

"Let's just start walking," I said. "Maybe we'll remember something when we see certain landmarks."

"And if we don't?"

"Then we would be screwed, wouldn't you think? It's either that we start walking or stay standing at this pier."

"Ugh. Okay, we'll walk."

We turned to the right and trotted down the long street. Since the sun was still slowly making its way above the ocean, the lampposts were still slightly on to provide some visibility. Signs with the word 'CLOSED' on them were hanging on the glass doors of the shops we passed by.

We continued walking for another five minutes before we realized that we went a bit too far (I was the one that noticed because I was positive that we didn't walk by a colorful ice cream parlor when we were here). We turned around and decided to take a random turn that seemed to go up a small hill. As we walked, we saw outlines of people with backpacks coming out of houses and going up the hill in the same direction as we were.

"You think they might be students?" Roxas asked.

"Possibly," I replied. "Let's follow them. We might be going the right way this time."

And we did go the right way. At the top of the hill was indeed Destiny Islands High School standing as tall as I remembered it. However, as I stared at the lighted up building with people standing around outside and walking in and out of it, I couldn't help but feel nervous and, somehow, intimidated.

"There are so many teenagers," said the blonde boy beside me.

"Meaning that there is possibly no way to keep from attracting attention," I mumbled.

"We have to face it eventually."

"But, I don't want to."

"C'mon, Kairi. We're already here, and you agreed to going to school, so you're pretty much going to have to suck it up and deal with it. I know that you don't like paparazzi, but I bet that these people aren't carrying around cameras and pictures for you to sign."

"That lady at the desk could have spread news about us coming here, so there's a possibility that people have come prepared."

"Now, who would actually believe her if she said that Roxas Fair and Kairi Strife were going to attend a public high school off their home island?"

"You don't know how crazy and obsessive people can be!"

"Yes, I do! We're going in." He grabbed my wrist and began to drag me towards the front entrance of the school. "It's seven o'clock now, anyway. We only have thirty minutes left to find out where our lockers and classes are."

As I was being dragged, the noise of people talking suddenly ceased around me. I felt many wide eyes glued onto Roxas and I. After a few moments of silence, people began to whisper, point, and gasp, almost as if they were afraid, shocked, and excited at the same time. I heard phrases such as, "What the hell is going on here?" and "Dreams _do_ come true!" coming from all over the place. Girls were squealing and boys were gawking.

I kept thinking to myself that I was going to have a very long and excruciating first day.

We entered the school to be greeted by more students acting the same as those outside. Roxas seemed to be ignoring them completely for he had a deadpan face and his eyes were focused on the main office ahead of us. I tried to mirror his actions, but the strange intimidation that I felt from earlier made me keep glancing around to observe everyone near us.

The boys here looked pretty plain and simple compared to the slightly classy clothes that Roxas was wearing (by classy, I meant striped collared shirt and a pair of jeans). A majority of them had on a T-shirt and some sort of shorts, whether they were basketball shorts, plaid shorts, or cargo shorts. Their T-shirts had a few designs or graphics on them, though there were many boys that sported shirts with what looked like different types of Destiny Islands High School sports teams on them.

The girls were a different story. There were many different styles among them, some of which I had never seen before. There were girls in dresses; there were girls in outfits slightly similar to mine; there were girls covered in make-up and wearing dark clothing; there were girls with skin exposed in various places; and there were girls wearing T-shirt and shorts, just like the boys. Not many girls were wearing jewelry, but I could clearly tell who was wearing make-up, even the ones that applied just a light touch. I suppose that I could say that my eyes had been unnecessarily trained enough by Yuna, Rikku, and Paine to notice how others do their make-up.

We went into the main office and were approached by the same lady at the front desk as before. Upon seeing us enter, she smiled widely and began shuffling through folders.

"Good morning, Mr. Fair and Ms. Strife!" she said.

"Please, just Kairi is fine," I told her. Roxas asked for the same treatment with his name.

"Okay, Roxas and Kairi. I still can't get over the fact that you're here at our school!"

I mentally sighed. "May we get our schedules?"

"Right, right, I'm sorry. Here you go!" She handed Roxas and I our papers. "On your papers are three different columns: one with your classes, one with the names of your teachers, and one with the room numbers. These classes are listed in order of when you will be attending them. At the top of your sheet by your name is your locker number and code, and I believe that the sophomore lockers are upstairs this year. There are bells signaling the beginning and end of each class with a five minute passing period for you to get to each one. If you ever get lost or have any questions, please feel free to stop by here!"

We thanked the lady and left the main office. We walked over to an empty couch at the side of the school's foyer. The people around us were still eyeing us curiously and whispering to each other, probably wondering what classes we were taking.

Here was my schedule:

_Strife, Kairi - Locker #B216, 26-31-41  
Geometry (Luxord) 132  
Art 1 (Guado) 201  
Spanish 1 (Trepe) 228  
Island History (Sid) 214  
Chemistry (Merlin) 108  
Adv. Theater/Drama (Ansem) Auditorium  
English 10 (Zexion) 125_

"Did they put you in Advanced Theater for your sixth class?" I asked Roxas.

"Yeah," he answered. "I guess they assumed that we didn't want to be in the beginner's class."

"Is that the only class we have together?"

"Here, take a look."

_Fair, Roxas - Locker #B259, 04-45-27  
Island History (Sid) 214  
Latin 1 (Loire) 220  
Computer Science 1 (Tron) Lab 3  
Geometry (Luxord) 132  
Chemistry (Skellington) 112  
Adv. Theater/Drama (Ansem) Auditorium  
English 10 (Vexen) 120_

"If they could switch your first and fourth class around, then we would have three classes together," I said. "This is going to suck."

"You might find someone interesting to talk to," assured Roxas.

In the next moment, Roxas and I suddenly found ourselves surrounded by teenagers.

"Is that your schedule?" one girl asked, batting her eyes at Roxas.

"Um, yeah, it is," he replied.

"You wouldn't happen to have any classes with me, would you?" some guy asked me, reading my schedule over my shoulder.

I sweatdropped. "I, uh, don't know if we do—"

"Both of your lockers are upstairs!" another girl exclaimed. "We can help show you where it is. Come on, follow us!"

We were then apparently escorted by a bunch of unknown teenagers through a hallway and up the stairs. They constantly kept barraging us with questions, such as why we were there or how our lives were. Someone even asked us if we were virgins, but I had no idea who voiced that one.

The group of escorts then split; one group went to lead Roxas to his locker while the other hung around me. They found my locker near the beginning of the hallway.

"Can I open your locker, Kairi Strife?" the guy closest to my locker asked me. He started to spin the black dial.

"Just Kairi is fine," I told him. "And no, I think I can open it myself, thanks." I turned to walk away and find Roxas, but the lost puppies remained following me.

"I never noticed how sexy you were in person," said some guy. "I mean, you're smokin' on screen, but now that you're in front of me, it's like, whoa."

All the other guys around whistled in agreement. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"Are you and Roxas Fair dating?" a girl asked me. I told her no, then she said, "Are you denying it because you want to keep your relationship a secret?"

I sighed. "We're not dating. I don't know what the magazines and newspapers have been telling you, but we're just friends."

"It surely didn't look like it with that almost-kiss scene in that preview for your new movie!"

"You know, Kairi, you should be a cheerleader," voiced another guy. "I wouldn't mind having your fine self cheering me on at my blitzball game."

"Nah, she should be on the dance team," said a deep voice. "Didn't you see her dance on that one TV show? Her body can really move."

I stopped walking. At that time, all I was thinking about was a way to get rid of the people that were behind me. I couldn't come up with a nice way of losing them, so I decided to use a fake anger tactic. Anger always seemed to make people hesitate.

"Don't you all have something better to do than badger me about my physical appearance and some made-up relationship with Roxas?" I said to them with a dark edge in my voice. "If that's all you're going to do, then I would appreciate it if you would stop following me. I don't have time to listen to people like you."

They all stared at me in shock. I smiled, about faced, and walked away, feeling content when I didn't hear a multitude of footsteps coming from behind. Curious, I glanced over my shoulder to find the group conversing with each other and walking in the opposite direction. Some turned back and eyed me strangely.

I couldn't find Roxas (I guessed that his group led him somewhere), so I decided to search for my first class, which was Geometry on the first floor. With only five minutes left before school officially started, I made my way downstairs and followed a bunch of arrows and signs that guided me to a hallway that ranged from rooms 130 to 138. I walked into room 132, which was only filled with four students, and took a seat in the back corner.

A bell rang after a little while. Students came pouring into the classroom, occupying seats and talking with each other about their 'summer vacations.' A few people looked at me with questioning eyes; others seemed excited yet too afraid to talk to me.

"Excuse me," said a voice in front of me with her hand placed on the desk ahead, "is this seat taken?"

"No, I wasn't saving it for anyone," I told her. She smiled at me and sat down, her layered brown hair bouncing as she did so. She turned and examined me with her bright green eyes.

"You must be Kairi Strife," she said.

"Yeah. Just Kairi is fine, though. No need to add the Strife at the end."

"My name is Olette. Pleased to meet you."

She sounded like a very kind and polite person, so I decided to not blow her off when she asked me general questions about my life.

"How long have you been acting?" was one of her questions.

"As far back as I can remember," I answered her. "I've been doing acting-like business since I was very little."

"Wow, that's amazing. I could never be an actress. I can't act multiple personalities."

"It takes a lot of practice."

She smiled again. "You don't seem like a bad person."

"What makes you think that I am?"

She shrugged. "I didn't think you were. There was just word going around this morning that you were a bitch."

I was surprised at first, but then I remembered what I did to my followers this morning. "Oh, I see."

"Did you do something to someone?"

"No. I just told a group of people following me to back off. They were making unnecessary comments."

"That's understandable. Don't worry about it, though. It was just a rumor."

I raised my eyebrow. "A rumor?"

"Yeah, you know, when someone says something then it spreads around and gets told in different versions?"

I sighed. I didn't want to have to deal with rumors at work and in school. Having fake information spread around the world about you was stressful enough, though I fortunately didn't have to deal with any major issues with rumors at the time.

Because we had nothing better to do, we exchanged schedules until a tall, blonde-haired man walked in, immediately silencing the room without even lifting a finger. He went over to his desk and scanned the room, almost glaring at us. He then picked up some white thing and began writing with it on a black board. When he was finished drawing triangles and placing numbers in different places, he patted his hands and turned to us.

"My name is Mr. Luxord," he introduced himself in a monotone voice. "I am going to welcome you to Geometry by having you attempt to solve the equation that I put on the chalkboard. You may get help from those around you. You have five minutes. Go."

And that was how Geometry was for the next hour. My brain was getting overloaded by all the formulas that Mr. Luxord was giving us involving circles, squares, rhombuses, and all these other unimportant shapes. Olette kept trying to help me understand what was going on, but I was struggling with working out equations because the only concepts of math that the girls taught me were addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Olette was saying "PEMDAS" everytime I did something wrong, but I had no idea what that word was supposed to mean.

As the bell rang signaling the end of the first class, Olette walked me out of Geometry and pointed to the stairs.

"Your art class should be up those stairs and to the right," she told me. "I'll see you at lunch and in Chemistry, okay?"

We said our goodbyes and I walked up the stairs to the art room. Though Olette had said that the rumor about me being a bitch had spread throughout the school, people were still gaping at me and following me around. I eventually was able to get away from them as I entered my art class with a few minutes left before the bell rang. I went towards a random table and plopped down into the seat.

"It has only been one hour and I'm already getting bothered by this place," I said out loud.

"That's just how high school is," whispered a soft voice next to me.

I looked up and saw a blonde girl in a white dress sitting next to me, quietly drawing away on a large sheet of paper.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you sitting here," I apologized. "I can move if I'm in the way."

"No, you're fine. I don't mind."

I examined her drawing and my eyes widened when I saw how unbelievably detailed it was. This time, I was the one gaping.

"Do you like it?" she asked, blushing slightly.

"It's fantastic," I told her. "How long have you been drawing?"

"As far back as I can remember," she answered. "I've been drawing since I was very little."

For some reason, I felt connected to her already. It was almost the same exact answer that I gave Olette about my acting career.

"It surely shows. You have one heck of a talent for drawing."

"Thanks. You're Kairi Strife, right?"

"Yep. You can just call me Kairi."

She smiled. "A few weeks ago, I didn't believe it when I was told that you were going to this high school. I wonder how Sora and Riku will act when I tell them that you're actually here."

"Sora and Riku?"

"My brother and his best friend. They both go here. You might see them around."

The bell rang, and just like my first class, students came marching in. "Are you a sophomore here?" I asked the girl.

"No, I'm a freshman. I just turned fifteen a few days ago, though. My name is Naminé."

"That's a pretty name."

We continued chatting with each other until the teacher, who introduced himself as Seymour Guado, walked in. He had a very interesting hairstyle and wardrobe, but it would be a waste of time for me to describe to you how strange he looked. He gave us a few class rules and basically instructed us to just draw what was on our minds and turn it in at the end of class.

"Do you enjoy drawing, Naminé?" I asked the blonde girl sitting next to me as I doodled on the large paper in front of me.

"Very much, yes," she replied. "I like painting, too, but sketching is my favorite."

"With skills like that, you could be professional right now. Have you ever considered it?"

"I have, but..." she paused. "There have been some complications."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing, really. Just some stuff that I have to deal with before I do anything."

I could tell that she didn't want to discuss it any further, so I decided to drop the subject.

"Do you enjoy acting, Kairi?" Naminé asked me.

"More than anything," I answered. "It's my life. I can't really imagine myself without it."

"Why did you take time off to come here, then?"

"It's a long story. To make it short, a group of people that work for me wanted me to experience going to high school because they believe I'm missing out on life, so I decided to go through with the idea to see if what they were saying is true."

"Interesting."

"You got that right."

"You know, you don't seem like a bad person."

I rolled my eyes. "You've heard the rumor, too?"

She giggled. "Welcome to Destiny Islands High School, Kairi."

Time felt like it had flew by swiftly for the bell rang quicker than I expected. Naminé turned in her masterpiece while I turned in my demented triangles that were supposed to be mountains and left the classroom.

"Hey, there's Sora and Riku!" exclaimed Naminé, pointing to some lockers as we walked down the hallway.

"I'll see you later, then?" I said.

"Um, actually, can you come with me? I want to show them that you're here."

I somehow felt nervous as she dragged me along to meet her brother and her brother's best friend. Naminé didn't explain much about the two boys, so I had no idea what to expect.

"Hey, guys!" Naminé said. "Guess who's actually at this school!"

I looked up to be met with two pairs of uniquely colored eyes. One pair was a mysterious aquamarine and the other was a breathtaking blue. The boy with the aquamarine eyes was tall and pale-skinned with long, silver hair. He wore a yellow muscle shirt, which exposed his extremely buff arms, and jeans. The boy with the blue eyes (that I just couldn't seem to steer my eyes away from; that blue was very appealing) was a head shorter than the other, but was taller than I was. He was dressed like the other boys in the school yet he looked nice in his white T-shirt and cargo pants. He wasn't as buff as the other boy, but I could tell that he was muscular and athletic. He was tan and had brown hair sticking up in various places, which reminded me of Roxas who was currently missing in action.

"Hello," I greeted. "I'm Kairi."

The boy with the blue eyes seemed to be speechless. I smiled at him, which made him blush and scratch his head.

"Kairi Strife, huh?" voiced the taller boy with the aquamarine eyes. He sounded bored. "I knew you were going to be here after I saw that darn pretty boy walking around."

"You've seen Roxas?" I asked him. I was feeling a bit worried for Roxas; I wondered how he was faring.

"Uh huh. He was surrounded by a bunch of gasping girls, of course. He was also in this moron's class just now." He lightly shoved the boy with the blue eyes. "Ever since you and the pretty boy entered this school, it's just been a bunch of noise."

I had a feeling that the tall boy didn't like me.

"Ease up a bit, will you, Riku?" said Naminé.

The boy, now known as Riku, crossed his arms and leaned back onto the lockers. The boy with the blue eyes looked at me apologetically.

"Don't mind him, he's a junior and thinks he's too good for sophomores," he told me, finally speaking. Riku rolled his eyes. The boy with the blue eyes held his hand out to me and said, "My name is Sora. I'm Naminé's brother."

I placed my hand in his. He had a soft yet firm grip. "Nice to meet you, Sora."

At the corner of my eye, I saw Naminé grinning at her brother. Sora glared back at her.

"I'm going to class," stated Riku. "I'll see you later, Sora and Naminé."

"I better get going, too," said Sora. He turned to me. "Maybe I'll see you later?"

I gave him another smile. "Possibly."

As Sora and Riku walked away, Naminé grabbed my wrist and started walking down a hallway. "Since your Spanish class is next to my French class, I'll just take you there."

"You seem more energetic than before," I told her.

"I'm just shy when I first meet people."

I breathed out. "I don't think that Riku guy liked me too much."

"Don't worry about him. He's just a hard nut to crack at times. He'll open up to you, eventually."

Naminé guided me to my Spanish class and left for French, so I walked in and was greeted by more stares and gaping by the students that were already in the classroom. I took a seat that was in the back and suffered through an hour of listening to our blonde teacher named Ms. Quistis Trepe talk to us in a mixture of words that I couldn't decipher, but she also talked in English. Whenever I was called on to answer a question in Spanish, I would either take too long to answer or I would answer it incorrectly, resulting in the rest of the class snickering.

It took forever for the bell to ring, and when it did, I quickly walked out of Spanish. All the other students in my Spanish class looked at me and began to snicker once again, and I could assume that a rumor about my horrendous Spanish skills was going to arise.

I ran into Naminé as she left her French class, but since she had to head downstairs to get to her next classroom, I was left alone on the second floor. I didn't feel like going to my history class early, so I decided to try out my locker. When I arrived at my locker, I had no idea how the locker worked, so I tried out the black dial and spun it to the right, placing it on numbers that were typed on my schedule. I pulled at the handle, but the locker remained shut. I tried it four more times to find the same result.

"Need some help?" laughed a nervous voice behind me. I jumped and turned around quickly to find a familiar pair of blue eyes looking down at me.

"Yeah, I don't know how this thing works," I said to him.

He looked down at his feet. "You wouldn't mind showing me your locker combination, would you?"

I wasn't sure whether or not I was supposed to give him the combination. Tifa had said that some lockers had the potential of becoming secret stashers (Roxas told me later that Tifa enjoyed breaking open people's lockers and reading their notes). I looked at him skeptically.

"Uh, if you're going to be storing some super-secret stuff in there, then you don't have to let me see your combination," he sweatdropped.

"Are secret things supposed to go in here?" I asked him.

"No, unless you want them to. You normally just put in books and binders that you don't need 'til later."

Books and binders didn't seem to be items that I would have considered as secret stashers, so I decided to trust him and I gave him my locker combination. He placed his hand on the dial and began to turn it.

"First, spin the dial to the right a few times to reset the lock," he instructed. He then placed the dial on number twenty-six. "Set the dial on your first number, then turn it to the left this time and make sure you pass the zero. Set it onto your second number," he turned it to thirty-one, "then immediately go to your third number." He went straight to the forty-one. The locker clicked; Sora pulled the handle and opened it, revealing an empty but slightly dusty locker.

"I would have never figured that out," I said. "Thanks for helping me."

"No problem."

I didn't have anything to put in my locker, so I closed it. Sora looked at me weirdly.

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to try it out," I told him. "I didn't actually have stuff to put into it."

"Alright, then. Where are you heading?"

"Island History with some teacher named Sid."

His eyes glowed. "Really? That's my next class, too." Like when I met him the first time, he scratched his head. We stood there awkwardly for a moment before he said, "We can go there together, if you want."

And that was what we did. He walked with me through the hallway with little conversation (I wasn't sure if Sora had some sort of disorder that made him feel nervous all the time). Many students were eyeing us curiously as we walked together; the guys were glaring at Sora, whether it was out of hatred or jealousy for being the first guy other than Roxas that I basically allowed to talk to me today. However, he seemed to be oblivious to the glares for he kept a soft smile on his face.

We walked into the Island History class and I sat down in the back. The classroom was fairly dark for the blinds were closed and the lights were dimmed. Many historical-looking artifacts were scattered about the room. Books were stacked in an organized manner on tables and in the bookshelves. Maps and pictures were posted up all over the walls, almost covering them completely.

"It's funny," voiced Sora out of the blue, ceasing my further examination of the classroom. "I had no idea that I would be face to face with a famous celebrity, let alone be in the same classroom."

"I guess this is your lucky day," I said.

He responded with a grin.

"So, Roxas is in one of your classes?"

"Yeah, Latin 1. A lot of people were asking him questions and stuff, but he was pretty cool when he talked to me."

"That's good to know."

As more students came filing into the classroom, Sora occupied the desk to my right and asked, "Do you like him?"

"Who?"

"Roxas."

"No, no, I don't like Roxas in the way that you're thinking of. I don't get why people insist on us being a couple. He might be the only guy friend I have that's around my age, but that doesn't mean anything. We're just friends."

Sora laughed. "At least that clears things up. People were going around saying that you and Roxas are dating."

Since that rumor sparked up, I didn't want to know any of the others that were created.

"I'm not annoying you, am I?" he asked me.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked at him in confusion. We had barely talked to each other, and he was asking if I found him annoying? I thought he was a bit strange. "Why would you be annoying to me?"

"I don't know. Since you're famous and all, I was under the impression that more than enough people have come up and talked the mess out of you already. I wasn't sure if I was adding onto the annoyance that might cause."

His thoughtfulness surprised me. "No, Sora, you're not annoying me at all. In fact, you're the nicest boy I've met this entire morning."

He blushed a little, but his smile was radiant. "Thanks."

The bell rang for the start of the fourth class and, yet again, more students walked in at the last minute (I wondered if anyone ever cared about being on time for class). Behind the last student walked in a middle-aged man with a long, gray beard. Like my art teacher, Mr. Guado, his attire was unusual to me for he wore a comfortable-looking blue robe and a magician's hat to top it off. Though he did look weird, I somehow got the impression that he was very wise and full of untouched knowledge.

"Good morning, class," he greeted. Even the tone of his voice was coated with wisdom. "Welcome to Island History. You can call me Yen Sid."

"I've heard that this guy is the best teacher around," Sora whispered to me.

"He sounds like it," I whispered back. "I could say less about his clothing, though."

We didn't do much in Island History except for listening to Yen Sid talk about class rules and what items were needed for the class. He asked our class questions pertaining to the lessons that were supposedly learned in a World History class last year (and I smartly kept my hand down) and shared with us his experiences of living in a tower-like home hidden far outside from Twilight Town.

When class ended, I walked out with Sora behind me. I ended up losing track of him as I progressed further down the hallway for many people were surrounding me and asking me if they could sit with me during the lunch hour. I didn't answer any of them because too many questions were flying into my ears at once, so I continued to walk with the noisy crowd until I finally spotted Roxas for the first time since early this morning.

"Roxas!" I called out to him.

"Kairi!" he called back. "I've been looking for you all morning!"

The group of people behind me began to whisper about how Roxas and I were 'totally lying about our relationship status.' There was absolutely no way that I could get that thought out of their minds, so I had to ignore them for now.

"Has it been this bad for you?" I asked Roxas, referring to the followers as we walked towards what looked like the cafeteria.

"Just add in a few girls trying to pet my hair and you got my day," he said.

...

After Kairi was swept away by the tide of the crowd, Sora remained rooted to his spot. His mind was mulling things over, making sure that everything that had happened to him for the past few hours were real and that he wasn't dreaming.

'_She really is here,_' he thought to himself. '_Kairi Strife is actually attending this high school, and she is in my Island History class._'

"Hey, Sora!" hollered a voice a few yards away from him. Sora turned to find a tall boy with spiky blonde hair and camouflage clothing waving to him. Standing with the boy were two other teenagers: a brown-haired girl in an orange outfit and a short, round boy sporting a red jersey.

"Hayner!" Sora exclaimed. He walked over to the blonde boy and gave him a high-five. He looked over at the brown-haired girl and said, "You look like you got a little tan, Olette."

Olette grinned. "You think so? The sun never really went down in Twilight Town. Maybe that's how I got some color."

Sora then examined the chubby boy. "Were you snacking all vacation, Pence?"

"You bet!" Pence said proudly. "The food there was delicious."

"Where's Riku and Naminé?" asked Olette.

As if on cue, the two mentioned teens appeared on both sides of Sora.

"What's up?" greeted Riku.

"How was your trip?" asked Naminé.

"It was pretty awesome," answered Hayner. "We competed in this weird competition where you beat the shit out of people to get their orbs. I completely dominated in the game and won a huge trophy."

"Too bad you had to drop it off the clock tower," said Olette, shaking her head. Before Sora, Riku, and Naminé could scold Hayner for being careless, Olette quickly asked, "Have you guys seen Roxas Fair and Kairi Strife? I can't believe they're at our school! I even have Kairi in two of my classes!"

"Roxas is in my Computer Science along with Sir Eats-a-Lot over here," mentioned Hayner, motioning towards Pence. "I even had Roxas in my Geometry class. He's really chill."

Riku rolled his eyes. "They're probably here to take over this school."

"You're always so negative about them," said Naminé. "You don't even know them."

"I don't need to know them, but," Riku nudged Sora with his elbow, "lover boy was starstruck when Naminé introduced Kairi to us."

Hayner, Pence, and Olette laughed. "Sora has fallen for the girl on TV!" teased Hayner.

"Never know what she means to me; I fell for the girl that's on TV!" sang Olette and Pence.

"Shut up, will you?" Sora huffed. "I just think she's pretty, that's all."

"Wait, Naminé, wasn't Sora the one that was totally entranced by Kairi's beauty during the night of the meteor shower?" said Riku. Naminé nodded and succumbed to the giggles.

"Ugh. Think whatever you want. I've been acting normal so far."

"What are you talking about? You were almost speechless when Naminé brought her to us!"

"It's okay, man," said Pence, patting Sora on the back. "At least you got to meet her in person. I don't know if I ever will!"

The six teenagers maintained their conversation to the grand cafeteria located in the center of the high school. Since the lunch period served all grades at once, the cafeteria was packed from wall to wall though some students chose to sit outside in the school's courtyard. There were eight serving lines (two per grade) and many tables that were in the process of being filled by the hungry students. Near the right side of the cafeteria where the windows were was a completely packed table with people trying to find spots to sit next to the two superstars that were nearly squished in the middle.

The group chose to occupy a table in the corner at the opposite end of the room. From time to time, Sora would glance at Kairi and Roxas and wonder what they could possibly be talking about with the crowd of people sitting around them that he was sure they didn't know at all. He also wondered if they were talking to any of the people at the table at all.

After the lunch hour ended, the group parted ways and attended their next three classes. When the final bell rang, ending the first day of school, Sora jumped out of his lab chair in Chemistry and navigated his way to the second floor and towards locker #B220 where he waited for his sister to arrive.

While waiting at the locker, he caught sight of a familiar head of red hair four lockers down struggling with opening her locker. Laughing quietly and shaking his head, he walked over to the poor celebrity and leaned against the neighboring locker.

"Still don't have the hang of it yet?" he asked her.

Kairi breathed out in frustration as her attempt to open her locker failed once again. "I can't remember how to do it."

"It's pretty easy once you understand the concept."

She smiled at him apologetically. "You wouldn't mind helping me again, would you?"

"No problem. If you want to make it easy, split it into three steps. Right," he turned the dial to twenty-six, "left," thirty-one, "and straight to it." Forty-one. The locker clicked open.

"You remember my locker combination?"

This time, it was Sora's turn to feel embarrassed. "Uh, well... It's kind of easy to remember. I can forget it, if you want."

"No, it's fine. Who knows, I might need you again in the future." She smiled again.

'_Why does she keep smiling at me?_' Sora thought. _'It's like she was trained to smile, or something._'

"You want to try opening your locker yourself?" he offered. "This might sound weird, but it'll help if you practice opening it."

"Sure, I can try that." She closed the locker and twisted the dial, resetting the lock. "Let's see. Right, left, and straight to it." The locker clicked open for her.

"Kairi Strife now knows how to open a locker!" Sora cheered.

"That's all thanks to you!"

"Not really. I just provided you with the steps."

"Give yourself some more credit, Sora." She placed a textbook into her locker and closed it. She turned to Sora and gave him yet another smile. "Thanks again for helping me. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll see you tomorrow."

As Kairi walked away, Sora leaned back onto the lockers and sighed. Naminé came up to him a moment later and playfully poked him in the shoulder, apparently having witnessed the whole locker episode that he had with Kairi. Sora just rolled his eyes and ignored his sister's friendly pesturing, but he couldn't help but speculate.

'_Why did she keep smiling at me?_'

* * *

_-That's a good question. Why does she keep smiling at you, Sora? We'll find out soon enough.  
-You can make fun of me for being late on this, but although I've been on fanfiction for a little over a year now, I finally stumbled upon the Story Traffic button where I can see how many hits and visitors each of my stories get (people kept on mentioning it to me, but I had no clue as to what they were talking about; now I do). Since this story has been published, "Falling Into Average" has acquired 1927 hits and 753 visitors. I kind of find it strange how I only get about five or so consistent reviewers per chapter, so I would like to give a special thanks to those that reviewed chapter nine: Kisdota-The Freak Gamer, TinaalovesMints, NightFalcon26, and the anonymous reviewer, nikole (Transitions End has also been reviewing this story, so thanks to you as well). Please don't get the idea that I'm going to enforce reviewing this story as a requirement for me to continue; I think that rule is a bit unnecessary. I just thought that the fairly large number of hits I've received and the small amount of feedback I've gotten from people was kind of funny.  
-I would also like to thank all the new readers that have added "Falling Into Average" to their Story Alerts and Favorites! In addition, I have been listed as Favorite Author for two more readers! Woohoo! I'm actually smiling really big right now :) I had no idea that I could actually get success with this story.  
-*The lyrics that were sung by Olette and Pence came from the song "Girl On Tv" by LFO*_

_Next chapter: Not this weekend, I'm sure. I won't be here. I would expect it to be up next week or so, but I can't guarantee anything anymore.  
_


	11. Shirtless

_Wow, it has been forever... Again, huh? I'm so sorry. However, I have returned with a new chapter. You can kill me later after you read and (hopefully) enjoyed the chapter!_

_P.S. I didn't do any editing before publishing this chapter. Please forgive any spelling mistakes/grammatical errors/incorrect punctuations that you might see; I just wanted to get this chapter up as soon as possible for you all.  
_

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or Disney.  


* * *

__"How'd your first day at school go, Kairi?" asked Selphie through the phone._

_"Dreadful," I answered her. I rolled over on my bed and let out a groan. "There were times when I just wanted to whip out a magic wand and disappear."_

_"Going all dramatic on me again."_

_"I'm serious, Selphie. The people there wouldn't leave me alone! The teachers were the only ones that gave me space except for my drama teacher. He was all over me."_

_"He raped you?"_

_"That's not what I meant."_

_"Oh, okay. So, did you at least try and make friends?"_

_Different faces appeared in my head at once. I wasn't sure where to start. "All of the people I met either came up to me or got introduced by other people."_

_"Tell me a few. I don't want to hear all of them because I might be sitting here until midnight."_

_"Well, the first nice person was this girl named Olette in my Geometry class. She's really pretty and tried to help me understand some horrible formulas that Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Yuffie, and Xion never showed me. Then there was another nice girl in my Art class named Naminé, who was kind of shy when I talked to her but opened up to me a little after a while. She then introduced me to her brother, Sora__—__"_

_"Is he hot?" she interrupted immediately._

_"Why do you always ask that every time I mention a guy?"_

_"I'm just curious. I also think that you deserve a hot, sexy guy."_

_"Anyways—"_

_"Answer the question!"_

_"Argh! He has beautiful eyes, okay? End of discussion! Back to what I was saying, __Naminé also introduced me to Sora's best friend, Riku__—"_

_"How about him? Is he hot?"_

_"Selphie!"_

_"Come on, Kairi! I just want some details!"_

_"He's really muscular with long, silver hair but didn't seem to like the fact of me being at his school very much, so no, I don't think he's hot."_

_"Just because he didn't seem to like you?"_

_"Yep. Moving on, I met this couple while being squished at a lunch table with Roxas. Their names are Garnet and Zidane__—"_

_"Zidane sounds like a sexy name. Is he hot?"_

_"Keep this up and I will hang up on you."_

_"You're such a party pooper, Kairi."_

_I sighed. "There was this slightly fat kid named Pence in my Drama class and a tough-looking boy named Hayner in my English class. They both are friends with Olette and seem to be on bad terms with this trio of people named Seifer, Fuu, and Rai. I found out that those three are in my Spanish class and were spreading rumors about my awful Spanish speaking abilities."_

_"More rumors? What a bummer. What other rumors are there about you?"_

_"Uh, one about me being a bitch, one about me about to buy out the school, one about me being a slutty superstar, and another claiming that Roxas and I are an item."_

_"First off, you're not a bitch. Second, why would anyone be interested in buying out a school? Jeez, I wonder how that rumor came about. Third, basically every female in the entertainment industry is called a slut by some person. We know that you're still a virgin, Kairi, so whoever thought of that rumor is probably desperate for some action. And fourth, I'm not the only one who thinks you and Roxie boy should date!"_

_"Selphie, he and I are just friends and nothing more. Besides, when we were heading back to the Big Island, he kept going on and on about __Naminé."_

_She gasped. "Really? What was he saying?"_

_"He apparently met her in his Geometry class. Since __Naminé's a freshman, I was wondering why she would be in a sophomore math class, but he told me that she was taking the advanced math course which puts her one year ahead of where she should be. He said that __Naminé and I look exactly alike, except she has 'beautiful, blond hair that could bring sunshine on a cloudy day,'" I mocked him._

_"In a way, it sounds like Roxas likes a different, slightly younger version of you."_

_"He has mentioned that he prefers girls with blond hair."_

_"Man, I always thought you two would get together! Oh well. I'd hate to end this conversation, but I need to finish some registration papers for the Balamb School before it's too late."_

_My eyes widened. "What? You're registering for school?"_

_She giggled. "Well, since you were brave enough to give school a try, I didn't want you to get all the fun and have all the stories to share so I decided to attend the private school! I got to go now. Bye bye, Kairi!"_

...

"And that's basically what I did last night," I informed Olette in Chemistry class. She was unusually interested in what I did yesterday after I left school.

"That's so awesome, being best friends with Selphie Tilmitt," she replied. "I didn't expect to hear that Roxas has a crush on Nami, especially since it has only been two days since school started."

"Nami? You know her well enough to give her a nickname?"

"Yep! You could say that my group of friends is really cool with her, Sora, and Riku. And by the way, it is true that Sora has a wonderful pair of eyes."

I blushed in slight embarrassment. The image of Sora smiling at me as he walked with me from my locker to our Island History class in the previous hour appeared in my mind.

He had some sort of cheerful aura about him that made me smile unknowingly whenever I looked at him. It was like he had a bubble of happiness that would absorb everyone near him.

Mr. Merlin then finished writing on the board and turned to the class, stroking his almost never-ending white beard.

"On the board is a list of raw materials that we will go out and find in the fields today for our first experiment," he announced to the class. "There will be gym classes running around outside, so please don't disturb them. Make sure that you find all the items and the proper quantity of each so that the product of your experiment comes out correctly."

"Can this be a partner lab?" asked some girl in the back of the class.

"Why, yes! I forgot to mention that part. Since this experiment will be your first of many, I will allow you to choose your partner for this experiment."

I felt many eyes turn on me. Just before the majority of the class attacked me and asked to be each one's partner, Mr. Merlin said, "And all of you can't choose Ms. Strife."

"Can I be your partner, Kairi?" Olette asked.

"Uh, sure."

I heard a chorus of disappointed sighs, but I was more than happy to be partnered with someone that I knew.

After Mr. Merlin gave us more instructions and some safety guidelines to follow, we walked out the back of the school and made our way to the fields that were surrounded by a forest (I had this strange thought that people purposely grew trees around the school so that students would not have an easy escape). In the middle of the fields was a small stadium with goal posts set on opposite ends, surrounded by a track. As Mr. Merlin had said, gym classes were out and about, either kicking balls to each other in the stadium or running on the track.

Though we were supposed to stay focused on the fields, the sight that stood out to me the most was the large gate entrance to the right of the fields with a tall stone wall sprouting out from both sides of the gate, encircling whatever was inside and obstructing our view from it. I did, however, manage to see the top of what looked like a glass dome, but I had no idea what that was.

Olette must have caught me staring at it for she said, "Are you a fan of Blitzball, Kairi?"

"Blitzball?" I repeated. "What's that?"

She gasped, along with a few of the eavesdroppers around us. "Only the biggest sport on the Islands!" she exclaimed. "We don't have a professional team on the Islands, but the high school varsity games are almost always sold out! Haven't you heard of the Big Island Barracudas? You know, the high school team on your island?"

My mind drew a blank, which was evident on my face.

"Have you not paid attention to any of the Blitzball games? They're always making headlines in the newspapers."

"I don't really have the time to pay attention to that stuff," I admitted.

"We'll have to take you to one of the games this season! It's something every islander has to experience!"

I inwardly groaned. Another person telling me of things I must 'experience.' I wanted to tell her that I was going to be busy with another film production, but I kept my mouth shut on that matter.

"What are the materials that we're looking for again?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

Olette pulled out a small sheet of paper from her pocket that had a list of everything we needed written down in her overly neat handwriting. "Ten honeysuckles, twenty green leaves, twenty blades of grass, five berries, and a sunflower."

"What the hell are those things supposed to make?"

"Beats me. Mr. Merlin said that the materials will make something 'magical and soothing for the soul.' Do you have the bag that we're supposed to put them in?"

I waved said item in front of her face.

"Great! Let's get started!"

For the next twenty minutes, Olette and I scavenged the fields and the edge of the forest for the different materials. We were easily able to find the leaves, grass, berries, and sunflower, but we could not find the honeysuckles. The other pairs were having difficulty in the honeysuckle search as well, so that meant that we did not have awful honeysuckle searching abilities.

"We have to find these honeysuckles!" said Olette as she crawled on the ground. "Mr. Merlin said that they were the most important part of the recipe for the experiment!"

"Well, if we all can't find them, then we'll all fail the experiment together," I assured her, throwing in a smile.

"But I can't fail!"

I sighed.

While Olette continued to crawl on the ground in desperate search for the honeysuckles, I decided to avert my attention over to the gym classes. Seeing all of the active people made me think about Roxas; I was surprised that he did not sign up for the gym class since he was the athletic type. As for me, I immediately knew that I was not interested in exerting any physical energy for school, nor did I want to break out a sweat and feel icky for the rest of the day.

I looked out towards the field in the center of the small stadium and watched as people were chasing after a ball with their feet. When a boy kicked the ball into the net, he and three other boys began to cheer and celebrate.

That was when I noticed that the boy who kicked the ball in was Riku and the boys celebrating with him were Sora, Hayner, and Pence.

"Olette?" I called out, feeling curious about the activity being played.

"Yeah?" she called back.

"What's that they're doing over there in the stadium?"

She finally took her eyes off the ground to look over to the stadium, then glanced back at me in a surprised fashion. "Don't tell me that soccer is on your list of things you don't know!"

I smiled innocently.

Olette got up from the ground and dusted off her pants. "Soccer is another sport played in high school. Do you want to go take a look? It doesn't seem like we'll be finding any honeysuckles in this area."

We walked over and leaned on the fence bordering the stadium, keeping us a good thirty feet away from the soccer field. Some of the track runners saw us and began to point at me, but the people on the soccer field were too engrossed in their soccer game to notice our presence.

"Sora and Riku have been on the varsity Blitzball team since they were freshmen," Olette informed me out of the blue. "Hayner is thinking about trying out this year since he just learned how to play. We think that he has a chance of making the team because he's a quick learner."

"Are they good?" I asked as Sora kicked the ball straight past the boy guarding the goal.

"Good? Hayner is starting to get the hang of it, but Sora and Riku are the best in the school! Well, the best since Tidus Averty and Wakka Grouve, of course."

When she mentioned the names Tidus and Wakka, I quickly turned to her. "How good were they?"

"They were legends. Actually, they still are. They hold records that people find almost impossible to surpass. Wakka came first and led the school to its first semi-finals appearance in years. Tidus came the year after, making the team practically unbeatable. Together, they won the Islands championship three times in a row and even participated in the International High School Blitzball Tournament when Tidus was a junior and Wakka was a senior. That tournament is the biggest and highest tournament that any high school team in the world can qualify for. Only thirty-two teams can qualify for that tournament, and since there are about thousands of high schools internationally, we thought it was a huge honor. That season was the first time this high school ever made it to that tournament."

I could not help but gape at Olette. In the back of my mind, I was angrily mumbling, "_Why didn't Tidus and Wakka ever tell me about their glorious Blitzball days?__!_"

"Unfortunately, the Blitzball team kind of went downhill since those two graduated," she continued on. "But when Riku came and led the team to the semi-finals, we began to hope again. And then when Sora came and helped bring the team to its first championship appearance since Tidus and Wakka, everyone went crazy. People are now saying that Sora and Riku are the Blitzball reincarnations of Tidus and Wakka."

I had to laugh at that one. Tidus has a Blitzball reincarnation? I had to tell him about that one later.

"We were all excited when Wakka had gone pro and is now playing for the Besaid Aurochs, but the bigger story was hearing that Tidus dropped the offer to play for the Zanarkand Abes."

I was really interested now. "Why didn't he take the offer?" I asked, even though I already had a good idea why.

"They say that he fell in love and didn't want to leave his lover's side," she sighed romantically. "But that's all I know."

I smiled. "So he loved Yuna that much, huh?" I quietly said to myself so that Olette would not hear.

Hearing the story about my butler and his best friend made me think back to the recent times when Tidus would invite Wakka over to my house and disappear with him for hours. Whenever I would ask Yuna where the two had gone, she would always answer, "The beach, being his old self." When Tidus would come home, I sometimes found him and Yuna on the balcony later that night staring out towards the ocean, with Yuna looking apologetic and Tidus trying to console her.

I now wondered if Tidus ever missed playing Blitzball.

"Maybe Sora and Riku can accomplish the same things Tidus and Wakka did," said Olette, breaking my thoughts. "There's talk around town that this year would be their year, but we don't know. The team is quite young and still in its rebuilding stages."

"Are Sora and Riku popular around here?" I asked her.

"They definitely are, but they don't really acknowledge the fact. They tend to stay away from the crowd, especially Riku. He seems to have some an issue about having a high status."

"Does he have some sort of thing against celebrities? He didn't seem to like me when he saw me."

"I guess, but he never says why. If anyone would know, it would be Sora, but he probably hasn't told him anything, either."

At that moment, Olette's face began to redden slightly. She turned away from the soccer field.

"Something wrong?" I questioned.

"They're playing shirts versus skins," she replied.

"What's that?"

"See for yourself."

I looked back at the soccer field and witnessed half of the boys taking off their shirts. As I had expected, Riku was a completely ripped, pale kid. Hayner was slender with a few standout muscles here and there. Pence was just... Well, I honestly looked away before I watched him peel his shirt off. I did not want to see any of that.

And when I decided to examine Sora, I felt my heart beat in a foreign way.

He was not nearly as buff as Riku (in fact, _no one_ was), nor was he as slender as Hayner; he was right in the middle. His muscles were well-toned and fair in size, giving off the perception that he was strong. His abs made nice panels down his stomach and his chest was firm. He had a pretty tan that was accentuated when he stood next to the other three boys.

Just add-in all the sweat dripping down his body and you could definitely say that he was a glistening bronze god.

"Kairi?" I heard Olette say. She tapped her hand on my shoulder. "Kairi? Are you listening?"

"Huh?" I breathed out, taking my eyes off Sora.

"Didn't you hear me? I said that I think I found the honeysuckles that Mr. Merlin wants for our experiments!" She pointed to a spot underneath the bleachers. "See that batch of small, white flowers over there? That's where we're going to look."

We walked into the shadow of the bleachers and, sure enough, the honeysuckles were right there. I heard Olette talking to herself about how weird it was for the honeysuckles to grow in a strange place, but the conversation going on above me between two girls interested me more.

"Look at how hot they are!" squealed one girl.

"I love it when they separate the teams by shirts and skins," said the other girl. "Gives me something good to look at during gym."

"I wonder how Riku doesn't get tan out in the sun like this."

"Doesn't matter. He's so unbelievably sexy!"

"Tell me about it. Watch his hair when he runs; it's like it's flying in the wind!"

"Ew, look at that chubby kid with the sweatband and spiked-up hairdo. Who let him be on skins?"

"Forget him! Check out Sora!"

I felt my heart beat in that foreign way again.

"He's so beautiful. His face is gorgeous and his body is perfect."

"His tan is amazing, too!"

"How I wish I could tap that."

"We all do," I heard a new group of girls say, adding into the conversation.

I felt a new emotion come over me then. It was not anger, nor was it sadness; it was a mix of both, kind of like a feeling of resentment. A wave of uneasiness came over me as I continued to listen to the girls on the bleachers.

And that was when it hit me. I was feeling jealous.

I was feeling _jealous_ because a group of hormonal girls were talking about Sora.

I had to control myself. I was not supposed to feel a physical attraction to Sora, a boy that I barely knew. Matter of fact, I was not supposed to show any sign of attraction to any high school boy. Ever. I could not stoop so low.

_'It will be easy to get over,'_ I told myself. _'It was just unexpecting to see a good-looking high school boy.'_

"I think I got all the honeysuckles we need!" exclaimed Olette, placing them in the bag. "I'm really curious about what we're going to end up making. All the materials make it look like I put a tiny forest in a plastic bag."

"Yo! Famous girl found the honeysuckles!" I heard a boy from our Chemistry class yell. Before I knew it, everyone began running towards us.

Olette grabbed my hand and dragged me out from under the bleachers. "Let's get out of here before it gets all bunched up. We have to find Mr. Merlin to make sure we have everything."

As we departed the stadium, I found myself giving one last glance at the soccer field before going off to find our teacher.

...

"Hello?" answered a high-pitched voice through the phone.

"Hey, Selphie," I said as I sprawled myself across my bed. I was wearing my camisole and underwear to bed that night, so the feeling of the soft sheets on my skin relaxed me. "How's it going?"

"I turned in the papers for the Balamb School! I hope that they'll accept me, but I won't know until a week from now."

"When does your school start?"

"It already did. They accept latecomers, though."

"That's good to know."

"How'd your second day of school go?"

"Eh, it was a bit weird."

"Tell me!"

"Well, everything was the same as yesterday. People were still gawking at me and trying to talk to me."

"Then what's the weird part?"

"It happened during Chemistry class. Our teacher wanted us to go find some stuff out on the school's fields for our experiment, so Olette and I became partners and went to search for them. We took a break after a while and watched the gym classes play on the soccer field today—"

"Wait, what's soccer?"

"A sport where you kick a ball around with your foot."

"Oh, okay. Continue."

"So, the boys on the field decided to play shirts versus skins, which means that one team wears shirts and the other team doesn't." Selphie squealed in delight at that one. "When I saw one boy take off his shirt, I felt strange."

"That's just a natural feeling, Kairi. You'll feel that way when you're attracted to someone."

"I can't be attracted to some high school boy!"

"Knowing you, though, you'll probably get over it. I also think that you might have felt that way because you saw something new. You're so used to seeing famous guys ripping their shirts off like they have no care in the world that it doesn't phase you anymore. But when you saw this ordinary boy take his shirt off and reveal his astounding body, you were probably thinking, 'Whoa, never saw that coming.'"

_'I guess,'_ I tried to tell myself.

"By the way, did you know the shirtless hunk?"

"No," I lied coolly.

"Because if you did, then I believe that there would have been some high school puppy love going on!"

"Ugh, Selphie!"

"Don't worry. I'm still a supporter of the Kairi and Roxas coupling, even if he happens to like this Naminé chick."

"Roxas and I will never happen."

"You never know when it comes to love!"

"I don't like talking to you."

"Yes, you do. Anyways, anything else happen today worth mentioning?"

Blitzball suddenly came to my head. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! Did you know that Tidus and Wakka used to be mega superstars at the high school?"

"You mean blockheaded Tidus and 'island brudda' Wakka were famous? That's kind of hard to believe."

"They're Blitzball legends!"

"What's Blitzball?"

"I don't really know much about it, but it's a really big sport on the Islands."

"Is it true, though? That they're legends?"

"I haven't asked Tidus about it yet. I'm not quite sure how."

"It shouldn't be hard! Just go up to him and say, 'Hey, heard you were at good at Blitzball. True or false?'"

I sighed. "I don't think so this time. You know how Tidus begged my dad for a job after high school to stay close to Yuna?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Apparently the story going around the high school and that island is that Tidus turned down an offer to go pro in Blitzball to be with Yuna. If that story is true, which I think it is, then Blitzball might be a sensitive subject to him."

"Oh, I see. Are you ever going to ask him about it?"

"Eventually. I'm kind of mad that he kept such a fascinating story about him from us! Not only him, but Wakka, too!"

"Guys are always the secretive type. Well, I'm going to bed now, so I'll talk to you later, okay? G'night!"

"Bye."

After hanging up the phone and turning all the lights off, I settled into my bed to get a good night's sleep so that I would feel refreshed in the morning when Roxas, Tifa, and Zack would come to get me. But before I went off into my world of unconsciousness, the image of Sora on the soccer field drifted peacefully into my mind.

* * *

_-I hope I didn't offend any high school boys when I had Kairi say, "I could not stoop so low." Please understand that I'm trying to make Kairi a person that believes that she deserves someone of the same status as her so that he wouldn't use her/pretend to love her for her money. I believe I lightly explained this in a previous chapter, but just re-explaining it now so that no boy feels hurt :)  
-Did anyone notice that I set up the International High School Blitzball Tournament the same as the World Cup? Hehe, I wanted to make Bliztball seem like one of the biggest sports ever. Who needs the Olympics when you have Blitzball?  
-Some (or all) of you may be thinking that this story took too long to update. Again, I'm terribly sorry. I believe that I caught that writer's block illness that everyone speaks of these days. I didn't mean to procrastinate._

_Next chapter will be coming. I don't know when, but it will come. **It. Will. Come.**  
_


	12. Might Not Be That Bad

_You can kill me later._

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.  
_

* * *

Geometry was still a huge struggle for me. It had gone to the point where Mr. Luxord would keep questioning my abilities to do the "simplest math known to man," as he would put it. How was solving the distance between one corner of a rhombus to another simple? And why would finding the area of a triangle be important to me? Those are things I would never understand. Olette kept trying to help me out whenever we did in-class worksheets, but I decided that I was just a lost cause for all things involving math.

"Okay, class," said Mr. Luxord after he showed us how to solve a problem on the board. "Today I am giving out your first homework assignment."

Everyone but Olette began to groan. One kid even slammed his forehead onto the desk.

"Why you gotta do that to us, Lux?" complained some guy in the front of the room.

"For the fourth time, Peter, my name to you is Mr. Luxord," the Geometry teacher growled. Peter rolled his eyes in response. "And you all should know by now that homework is what leads you to success in school."

I sighed and rested my head by leaning it against the palm of my hand. I remembered Auron mentioning something about homework, but I did not know exactly what it was.

Mr. Luxord passed out papers to the front desks at the beginning of each row, and from there each student would take a paper and pass it backwards. Olette grabbed hers and gave me the last copy, and when I examined it my mind began to spin.

"What is all this?" I said.

"It's your homework for tonight," answered Olette, turning in her seat to face me. "Have you gotten any homework from your other classes?"

"No, this would be the first one I've received."

"Lucky you! Who knows how much homework I've already done so far. It has only been the first week of school, too."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is homework?"

She shrugged. "It's basically assignments that teachers give you for extra practice to make sure that whatever they're teaching you gets drilled into your brain. You'll find that there's quite a number of kids that refuse to do homework."

"So, I have the option of not doing it?"

"Well, you do, but all the teachers make the homework count towards your grade. If you don't do it, you'll eventually end up only hurting yourself. Homework helps you for quizzes and tests, and the points that are counted for your grade do help you maintain at least an average grade. I always do my homework, so when it comes to taking the tests and everything I know what I'm doing because—"

I spaced out on her lecture. She just stated the same things over and over about how much homework can help you.

The bell rang, and Olette and I parted ways when we entered the hallway. As soon as she left I became surrounded by the usual people that have been following me to my classes since the first day. I was able to get to know a few of them, but many were still unfamiliar to me. You could say that this little group had become my entourage.

I met up with Roxas and his little entourage at an intersection by the stairs to the second floor. It took us a while, but we were able to manage a way of meeting each other before we went to our classes. I was still a bit uncomfortable being in the school, but Roxas seemed to be content and had gotten at least somewhat used to the attention he had been receiving.

"You have class with Naminé next, right?" he asked. I nodded in response. "Man, I have to wait until fourth period to see her. I wish I had more classes with her." Many of the girls behind him pouted upon hearing his infatuation with Naminé. Some even walked away.

"You know, it is normally the fans that are awed by the celebrities, not the other way around," I said.

"I can't help it. She is absolutely breathtaking."

We ascended the stairs. "Have you been talking with her?"

"A little bit. She's really shy, I think. Every time I ask her something or try to bring up small talk, she answers quietly and talks to her paper instead of me. I wonder if she's afraid of me."

"She was like that when I first met her, but she opened up to me pretty quickly. It could just be that you're a guy."

He sighed. "I hope so. I want to get to know her better."

"It's quite surprising to see you struggle with getting the attention of a girl. Many others would be at your feet by now."

Roxas looked behind him. The girls that were following him started to giggle and wave shyly at him.

He went up close to my ear. "They're like freakin' leeches, Kairi," he whispered. "I don't know how to get rid of them!"

"I'm in the same boat as you over here with these brainless jocks." I was referring to the dudes that just tag along with the group that follows me. "You could try to become friends with them so that you might not be as annoyed? That's what I've been attempting to do."

"I can try, but... I don't know."

"Well, I have to go to class, so I'll see you later."

I walked into the art room and found my seat at the table I shared with Naminé. Like usual, she was already busy working on another masterpiece of hers. However, instead of the landscapes I normally see her draw, I saw an outline of a human.

"What are you drawing this time?" I asked her as I rolled out a white paper of my own.

"A portrait," she replied. "I found my inspiration yesterday during one of my classes."

I began to create circles and odd shapes on my paper, resembling that of deformed bubbles.

"You just draw things that inspire you?"

"Yeah, you can't really do something well without an inspiration." She looked over at my drawing and cringed. I can tell that she knew I was not inspired to make whatever it was I drew. "When you're inspired to do something, your heart becomes a part of it."

"How many inspirations do you get in a day? I've only known you for a little while, but I know for sure that you put your heart and even your soul into each of your pieces."

"Oh, I don't know, hundreds? I wish I could put them all onto paper, but I don't have enough time for that." She gently touched the part of the portrait that I assumed to be the face. "But, out of all the inspirations that I have found, I think this one is the biggest. Whenever I draw, I get another inspiration that would make me stop my first piece and move onto the next. This one keeps me going, though. It's like I won't feel complete until it's finished."

"Can I ask who it is that you're drawing?"

Her face reddened immediately. She picked up her pencil and went back to working on the portrait, ignoring my question completely.

"Naminé?"

"Yes, Kairi?"

"You didn't give me an answer."

"Oh, um, yeah. You shouldn't worry about it."

"Is it someone I know?"

Silence. "No."

"It definitely is!"

"No, it's not. You should finish your drawing."

I began to create a list of names in my head of people that I knew in the school. I mentally crossed out the names of people I could safely assume were not friends with Naminé, and it came down to Sora, Riku, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. She would not be drawing one of them, would she? Why would she be so embarrassed to tell me?

And then that's when it hit me.

"You wouldn't be drawing a portrait of Roxas, would you?"

The tip of her pencil broke. I hit the nail directly on the head.

"Kairi—!" she whispered. She quickly looked around the room and found that no one was really paying attention to us. "How'd you know?"

"Calm down, Naminé. You act like you murdered someone."

She picked up her pencil and started fiddling with it. Her eyes roamed everywhere except to my face.

"You can't tell anyone, especially him."

"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing. You don't just go up to people and tell them, 'Hey, someone is drawing a portrait of you,' especially if it's someone you barely know."

I smiled at her. "What gave you the inspiration to draw him?"

"It's a bit weird, but—" she paused. She eyed the unfinished portrait and sighed. "I don't know, it's just the way he's so curious about me. I'm not sure if you know, but he sits next to me in my Geometry class. Every day I would catch him looking at me, and sometimes he would just stare for a while. Some people might find it a bit creepy, but his curiosity is just..." She blushed again and looked away. "It's intriguing."

I began to feel giddy. It was the strange, happy feeling that I always got whenever I saw Tidus and Yuna together.

"I have never captured curiosity in a piece before," she continued. "I've always expressed beauty or peace, but never curiosity. It's going to be completely new for me, so I want to do the best I can with it."

I wanted to tell her about all the good things Roxas had said about her. I wanted to tell her how much he adored her and how badly he wanted to get to know her, but I felt that Roxas wanted befriending Naminé as an accomplishment of his own, so I didn't want to interfere too much.

However, one of the "simple thrills" that Rikku mentioned popped into my mind.

_"The thrill you get when the hottest, most popular guy in school asks you out!"_

From all the crowds that Roxas had been gathering from just walking around the school, I counted him as a popular guy. Whether or not he was the most popular was unknown to me, but that didn't matter.

And, yes, I know that the girls were trying to have me experience these thrills for myself, so you are probably wondering why I was doing something for Roxas and Naminé instead of myself. Well, I wasn't trying to gain a reputation of dating high school boys, so I decided that I could experience this thrill by pairing them up and watching what they do from there.

That would work, right?

"You should try talking to him," I said to Naminé as we started to clean our table.

"I don't know about that," she said. "He probably thinks I'm weird with all the mumbling I do when he speaks to me."

"Do you like him?"

Her face never ceased to get red. "Well, uh, no, I—" She looked at me with doubtful eyes. She was debating whether to tell me or not. In situations like these I learned that smiling always eases up conversations, so that was what I did. She sighed and turned away from me. "I haven't even told my brother this, but I'm sure he's already gotten the idea."

"You can tell me. My best friend, Selphie, and I chat about things like this all the time, and talking about it always helps us feel better."

She turned back to me, but her eyes didn't reach mine. She focused her attention to a colored pencil laying on a desk. "I'm starstruck, Kairi. I've had some sort of celebrity crush on him since I first heard about him as an actor."

I giggled. "Oh, you are one of many, Naminé." Her face revealed disappointment, so I put my hand on her shoulder for some comfort. "But, you should trust me when I say this. Talk to him and give him the chance to get to know you."

"Why? I'm just going to be another hopeless girl chasing after him."

"That's where you're wrong."

This time, she looked confused. She opened her mouth to say something, but the bell rang. Students began to shuffle and made their way to the hallway, and before she could say something I walked out with the crowd and lost myself in the bustling city of people that was high school.

...

I was in Drama class texting Selphie when Roxas approached me. His smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Kairi!" he called out happily. Pence was following behind him along with another boy we met recently, Hope. He was short with layered silver hair, and his eyes were a unique blue-green color.

"Hey, guys," I replied. "Why are you so bouncy, Roxas?"

"Guess who talked to me today!"

I had an idea, but I decided to play the idiot. "Uh, some new, cool person? I don't know."

"No! Naminé!" He started to twirl around the stage, earning some stares as people watched him dance. "Oh, it was such a wonderful feeling!"

"He's being dramatic," said Pence. "He told us that they had a little conversation."

"It's better than nothing," said Hope, scratching his head. He looked to me, blushed, then looked away.

"Roxas, get back over here!" I yelled to him. I had to stop him from acting a lovesick fool. "What did you two talk about?"

He hopped over the rows of chairs and sat next to me. "Not a whole lot, really," he answered. "She still talked to her paper instead of me, but we actually had a conversation instead of a one-sentence showdown. She asked me some questions about my life, and I asked her some questions about mine. That was it, but still," he melted into his chair like putty, "she is the cutest thing when she talks."

"You haven't even told her the best part," mentioned Pence.

"I was going to get to it!"

"What happened now?" I asked.

"Well, uh, she didn't really invite me to come. I just sort of declared that I was gonna go." He beamed at me and started bouncing again. "Will you come with me to The Barrel after school today?"

"Why would we go to a barrel? I thought we were going to go straight home like we normally do."

"It's not just any barrel, Kairi! It's THE Barrel, and it's a restaurant that Naminé works at after school from two-thirty to five."

This boy was absolutely obsessed. "I don't want to be on this island too long, Roxas."

Pence frowned. "Why not?" he asked.

"It's kind of boring, really."

"Now, now, Kairi, don't be like that," said Roxas. He wasn't going to give up. "You are here on this island attending this high school for the purpose of experiencing the average life of a teenager. Because I'm such a good friend to you, I'm going to give you average life experience number one, and that is hanging out with friends after school and ignoring homework!"

"You act like you've done this before."

"Well, I haven't, so it's something we can experience together!"

"But I have all this homework that I got assigned to do today," I whined, trying to get out of it.

"No objections! See you at your locker after the last class?" I was about to protest, but Mr. Ansem came in and silenced us all. "Great! See you then!" Roxas whispered before he walked off. Pence followed after him while Hope awkwardly sat down next to me.

It was going to be a long day.

...

After English class ended, I did as Roxas instructed and waited by my locker. My little entourage said their goodbyes to me and walked away with the slowly fading crowd, and the hallway became much quieter. Some students hung around and were talking about this or that, and there were teachers locking up their rooms and rushing out of the school.

Across the hallway I recognized a familiar head of brown spikes leaning against a locker. Ever since I saw him shirtless that day when Olette and I were searching for honeysuckles it was hard for me to talk to him. He would say something to me and I would picture his perfectly toned, sweaty, tanned body, and I would blush slightly and look away.

I wasn't supposed to be acting that way. Sora was just a high school boy who just so happened to be a star athlete amongst his peers. I have seen many buff, sexy bodies at the private beaches that I had been to, and I had acted professional and thought nothing of it. Why was this different? Why couldn't I get the image of him out of my head?

"Kairi?"

It didn't help that he was standing right next to me.

"Hey, Sora," I said, finally looking him in the face. If I was to ever get over that image of him, I had to just suck it up.

"What are you doing standing around here? I usually see you leaving as soon as you can."

"I'm waiting for Roxas. He's taking me somewhere today."

He smiled sadly. I wondered if I said something wrong. "Oh, that's cool. You going somewhere at the Big Island?"

"No, he's actually taking me to a place on this island."

"Really? Where?"

"Some place called The Barrel. He wants me to accompany him so he can see someone."

His face lightened up immediately. "The Barrel, huh? My sister works there. I'm waiting for her so that I can walk her down there. If you're heading to the restaurant, would you like to come with us?"

I had a feeling that Roxas had no idea how to get to The Barrel, so I agreed. Sora and I waited another five minutes before Roxas appeared at my locker.

"Hey, Kairi!" he greeted. "And Sora, too? I didn't know he was waiting with you."

"Actually, he's waiting for his sister, so we decided to wait together."

"You have a sister?" he asked Sora.

"Yeah, she should be showing up here in a few seconds," Sora said.

"What's her name?"

"Sorry I'm late, Sora, I had to talk to Mr. Guado about the Winter Art Show," called out a voice behind us. It was Naminé. "He was asking a lot of questions and I got all caught up—"

She paused. Sora looked at her all confused. I turned to Roxas, who seemed really surprised but smiled nonetheless.

"R-Roxas?" she stammered, her face flushing.

"Hey, Naminé," he managed to breathe out.

Sora came up beside me. I could feel my heart beating again. "What's going on?" he whispered into my ear. I had to keep myself from shivering.

"I'll tell you later," I whispered back. "Well, Naminé," I announced as I scooted away from Sora, "would you mind taking us to The Barrel?"

"What? The Barrel?" she said, surprised. She looked to Roxas. "You were actually being serious about coming?"

"Why would I not be?" He took her hand, which caused her face to become more rosy. "We can continue our conversation on our way over."

The two of them began to walk, leaving Sora and me to follow behind. We exited the school building and walked through the small neighborhood to the main street lining the beach. Roxas was chatting away ahead of us while Naminé listened attentively, and I could tell she was loosening up a bit.

As for Sora and me, well—I tried to keep a small, safe distance between us. I didn't want to feel my heart pounding in that strange way again.

"Is there something up between him and my sister?" Sora asked.

"Maybe. I don't know if Naminé likes him or not, though," I lied. I didn't want to spill the little thing about Roxas that Naminé entrusted me with.

"I'm not sure I could trust him."

"Why not?"

"Well, no offense, but he's a celebrity, and he's a male, on top of all that," he said. "I'm worried that he could be a 'hit it and quit it' type of guy that is capable of breaking a girl's heart."

"Is that what you think of us?"

"Uh, it's something that Riku told me."

_'What is up with that Riku guy? Seriously,'_ I thought. "You shouldn't assume that. Some of us have good hearts, you know?"

Sora sighed. "If you say so. I just don't want anything to happen to her."

I didn't know what I was thinking, but something compelled me to hold his hand. He jumped a little at the sudden contact.

"She'll be okay, Sora," I assured him. "Roxas has a good heart. He wouldn't do any bad things to anyone, I can promise you that."

He smiled at me. I felt my heart fluttering again, so I let go of his hand.

We arrived at The Barrel, which looked like a small, casual restaurant. Many teenagers that I recognized from school and other young adults were already inside enjoying their meals. A few of them saw me and said hi while others gawked at Roxas and me. The hostess even dropped the menus that she was holding.

"Table of three, please," requested Sora to the speechless hostess. She nodded and walked away, motioning for us to follow.

"I'll see you all in a bit," Naminé said. She looked to Roxas and smiled before she disappeared behind the kitchen doors next to the bar.

We were led to a small booth by a window that looked out at the beach. The window was a bit dirty and had finger stains on it, but I could clearly see the vast blue of the ocean and the many bodies playing in the sands and splashing in the waves. Compared to the extremely crowded beaches of the Big Island, the beaches of Kahlea seemed more peaceful.

Sora and Roxas sat together while I sat across from them. We were handed menus that listed typical foods such as burgers, subs, chicken fingers, salads, steaks, and ribs. I was surprised to see that the prices of the dishes were inexpensive. I was used to seeing meals that cost more than it really needed to.

Within moments, Naminé came out to our table fully dressed in her waitress outfit. Her blonde hair that she would wear down in school was in a ponytail and held up by a cap. She wore a white shirt with an image of The Barrel on it and a green apron that went down to just above her knees.

I looked over at Roxas. He was still drooling.

"Hello, welcome to The Barrel," she greeted happily. Her persona had changed. She wasn't the shy Naminé that I met in school a week ago. "My name is Naminé, and I will be serving you today. May I start you all with something to drink?"

"I would like my usual, sis," Sora said.

"Uh," I said, examining the list of drinks on the menu. There was a small variety of sodas and soft drinks that I had never heard of before.

Sora chuckled. "Why don't you get her my usual, too?" he asked Naminé. He glanced at Roxas and saw that he wasn't even looking over his menu. "You can probably get him one, too."

"Sure thing! I'll be right back."

Once Naminé left, Sora whacked Roxas upside the head. "Come on, man, stay focused!" he commanded.

"Sorry, she just looked so different!" Roxas said, rubbing his head. "And she acted differently, too."

"She can't be a shy waitress. If she was, she would never get tips."

"I'll give her a tip any day." Sora glared at him. Roxas smiled innocently. "Just kidding, just kidding."

While the two were bickering, I couldn't help but notice how exactly alike the two boys looked. If I didn't know the two of them, I would have guessed that they were twins. They both had the same colored eyes and the same facial structure. Their hair were uniquely untamed, just one had brown hair and the other had blonde. They had the same infectious smile, and they were acting like brothers.

I couldn't help but think that maybe they were separated at birth.

"You two look like twins," I said, voicing my thoughts.

"You know how many people have said that about us?" said Roxas. "Everyone in our Latin class thought that we were related, but we both know for a fact that we aren't related."

"How do you know that?"

"I looked at my family tree when I got home after the first day of school. I had to make sure of it myself."

Naminé came back out with three drinks that were pink in color and looked like smoothies. She handed one out to each of us and pulled out her notebook once again.

"That drink is my brother's favorite," she stated. "I hope you two enjoy it! It's practically the best drink on the menu."

I took a sip of it and tasted a wonderful mix of strawberry and pineapple. "Wow, this is amazing!" I said. "What is this?"

"It's a nonalcoholic strawberry colada," answered Sora as he took a long sip of his. "Many restaurants on this island sell this drink, but this restaurant has the best, in my opinion."

"I've never heard of this thing on the Big Island," said Roxas, gulping down the drink. He suddenly cringed and put his hands to his head. "Aw man, brain freeze," he groaned.

Naminé giggled. "You can't drink smoothies too fast," she said. She whipped out her pen. "Would you guys like anything to eat?"

I wasn't very hungry, so I ordered a chicken salad. Sora ordered a burger whereas Roxas ordered a half-rack of ribs. Naminé wrote down our requests quickly and walked back towards the kitchen doors.

For the next half hour my time at The Barrel was listening to the stories shared by Sora and Roxas. Many of the ones that Roxas told were of him and Axel doing some insane stuff at my house, especially when it involved fire. Sora and Roxas would howl in laughter while I would just smile and shake my head at the craziness of my butler and his best friend. The one story that Roxas told that really caught my interest, though, was the one where he and Axel launched coconuts over the huge wall at the side of my house. I remembered listening to this one news story back at home about a road being too dangerous to travel on because it was raining coconuts. It was then that I learned the truth behind it all.

Sora's stories were interesting and hilarious as well. A majority of the ones he shared were about the adventures that he and Riku went on when they were younger. They apparently went hiking and camped out in a bear's den when they got lost. They once rode their boats too far and thought that they found an uncharted island, but they actually just ended up on the uninhabited side of Kahlea. Sora even told us about the sword fights and all the games he and Riku played together, and it seemed like there was a friendly competition always going on between them.

"Riku did what to you?" I said between laughs. Roxas almost choked on a fry he was eating because he was laughing so hard.

"I told you, he stole my pants while we were out in the streets and he made me run around half naked looking for him!" Sora repeated. "I found out later that he stuck it to a flagpole. It sucked to get it down."

A wiped away the tears the were forming in my eyes. I truly had never laughed so hard in my life. Sora and Riku had the craziest ideas.

"You, me, Riku, and Axel could become best friends," said Roxas. "Who knows what kind of mischief we could cause!"

Sora smiled. "That would be pretty sweet."

"It's hard for me to believe that Riku is just as insane as Axel, maybe even more so," I said. I took a bite out of my salad. "He always seems so sour to me."

"I don't know what to tell ya, really," Sora said apologetically. "I'm still trying to figure that out myself. He's been that way since he was a little kid, always going off on celebrities."

"He sounds like a cool guy, though," voiced Roxas. "I wish he could open up to Kairi and I more."

"Maybe he will. We'll just have to give him some time." Sora stood and looked up at the clock hanging over the bar. It read ten minutes past three. "I have to get going now. It was a lot of fun hanging out with you two. We should do this again sometime."

"You know it!" said Roxas, giving him a high-five.

"I don't know if I can," I stated.

Sora pouted. "How come?" he asked.

"I have another major role to play soon, so I have to do all of this preparation and other things that will consume my time." I stood up and held out my hand for him to shake. "It really was a pleasure, Sora."

Sora looked at my hand in a confused manner and hesitantly took it. "You're very professional, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" It was my turn to be confused.

He blushed, nervously scratching his head in the process. "Well, on this island, girls tend to hug when they part ways with people, not shake hands. I guess it's different on your island."

I smiled at him. Although I felt my heart pounding weirdly again, he was being too cute to resist. I tugged at his arm and pulled him into a hug. I rested my head on his chest and inhaled his ocean scent as he returned my embrace. I quickly released him and put my hands behind my back.

"See you tomorrow," I told him.

His smile was wide now, and he placed his hands behind his head in a casual way. "Yeah, see you tomorrow," he said. As soon as he walked away I sat back down in my booth. I looked over at Roxas to see him smirking.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing, Kairi." He turned his attention to the window and watched as the ferry made its way over the water. "I hope you enjoyed everything today."

I grinned at him. "You know, Roxas, being in high school might not be that bad."

On the outer deck of the restaurant, Naminé was taking the order of a young couple sitting at a table under an umbrella. Roxas sighed lovingly as he stared.

"Maybe," he breathed out.

I couldn't wait to tell the girls about the few thrills that I experienced that day.

...

Sora could feel himself skipping as he made his way home. He could feel the strange stares coming from the people that passed him by, but he didn't have a care in the world. Why? Because Kairi Strife had hugged him.

That's right. Kairi Strife had hugged him without denying him like she would to the other boys in school.

For the first time in two years, Sora felt extremely happy. He was even happier that Naminé had another person she enjoyed being in company with as well.

Sure, Sora may not trust Roxas completely, but if Naminé ended up enjoying being with him and if Kairi's words were true about him, then he would be content with that.

He entered his lone house and walked into his room. He stopped on his way to his bed by the drawer where a picture frame stood. He wiped away some of the dust that collected onto it, revealing a picture of him, Riku, and Naminé playing together on the beach when they were younger. Their faces had the widest of grins.

_'I need to figure out why Riku doesn't like Kairi and Roxas very much,'_ he thought, placing the frame back in its place. He walked over to his bed and laid himself across the sheets.

_'I wonder if it's because of his brother.'_


	13. Getting Familiar

_Warning: A bit of bad language in here_.

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing._

* * *

I probably spoke too soon about high school not being that bad.

Maybe it was an agreement among the teachers, but every single one of them went into homework overdrive as the end of September approached. Worksheets upon worksheets were handed out to us like saving the trees meant nothing to them. There were plenty of times when I would go home and toss the homework aside so that I could do other things that were on top of my priority list, such as managing my blog or organizing paperwork. Even sleeping came before doing homework. My priorities would unfortunately lead me to having to copy off other students, but Yuffie assured me that copying another person's work was a tradition at all high schools.

That didn't stop other rumors from surfacing, though.

Because of my copying, people were beginning to say how I "didn't give a shit about high school" and was only there to bring more attention to myself. If that was true, then why were they still allowing me to copy off them? People were practically throwing their work at me as if they wanted to be the one that I copied off of. When Olette wasn't in Chemistry one day, I walked into the room and asked the person that sat in the table next to ours if he did the assignment about molecules. I didn't expect everyone in the classroom to hear, so I was shocked to find myself crowded by people that were shoving their paperwork at my face and claiming they had the best, most accurate answers.

Another rumor that came about was one involving Sora and me. The students that saw me hug him at The Barrel must have been the ones who gossiped about how I was using him to get over Roxas because of his attraction to Naminé.

How typical. Share physical contact with somebody and other people will assume that you're dating.

Speaking of Roxas, he and Naminé had become much closer. When I was with Roxas, he would talk about Naminé. When I was with Naminé, she would talk about Roxas. I was pulling the Selphie card and pushing Roxas to ask Naminé out on a date, but he responded with the usual, "I will do it eventually. Leave me alone!"

As for Naminé, she was constantly in denial.

"I'm just another girl to him" this or "He has prettier options than me" that.

I mean, seriously? She had to have been blind to not see that she was the only girl in school that Roxas hadn't kindly pushed away.

Whatever. I wasn't going to get too involved... _Yet._

I had formulated this plan, you see, where I would get Roxas and Naminé alone together in some romantic scenery so they could confess their true feelings and be all happy and what not, kind of like the cliché moments you would see in a sappy chick flick.

I thought it was the perfect plan, but I had no idea how to pull it off.

Oh, well. Back to school for me.

...

I was sitting in Spanish class when a folded piece of paper landed on my desk. I unfurled the note and read the message inside.

_'U don't belong here, u attention-craving slut.'_

I rolled my eyes. I crumpled up the note and placed it at the corner of my desk, returning my attention to the Spanish video that Ms. Trepe played for us. She announced earlier that she had to step out for a few minutes.

Within moments, another message was sent.

_'Skank tank!'_

That insult was new to me, so I decided to keep it. I was sure that Rikku was going to have a kick out of it.

More notes came flying.

_'Wut, cat got no fight?'_

_'Beeeeetchhhh!'_

_'Ur boobs remind me of mosquito bites.'_

_'Stop being so ugly. Be easy on my eyes.'_

_'I hate the color red, ya kno?'_

After that last note, I finally turned around to face the three people sitting in the back corner of the room, each one of them sending me a glare.

Seifer, Fuu, and Rai, a trio that I was sure was out to get me when I took my first steps into Spanish. Whenever I responded to the teacher with the wrong word or with incorrect grammar, they were the first ones to snicker. If the teacher wasn't looking, negative notes were flying. When I didn't have homework done, they would call me out in front of the class.

I was doing my best to ignore them, but that never worked out too well.

Ms. Trepe had returned to the room during our glare battle, and she curiously eyed the small pile of crumpled up papers that were situated on my desk.

"What is that on your desk, Kairi?" she asked, speaking a full sentence in English for once.

Everyone turned to me with questioning stares. I sighed. I could feel the amused expressions on those three's faces. I could even hear the laughter that was going on in their minds.

"I was trying to take notes on the video, but after a few tries I just decided to give up," I lied.

She looked at me skeptically. I could tell that she wanted to know more, but she shook her head and went to her desk.

When class ended, I was only a few steps outside of the room when I heard their voices.

"You really don't belong here, _princess_," Seifer said sourly.

"Seifer's right, ya know?" stated Rai. I heard him punch into his palm.

"Get out," voiced Fuu.

I stopped and faced them. Even though I would not ever consider getting into a physical fight with someone, I knew I wouldn't win against them. Seifer had this tough guy look to him that was emphasized by the scar on his face. Fuu had a strange steel-blue color going on with her hair, and her face was always void of emotion. Rai was not the brightest of the bunch, but his body was like that of a rock wall.

"Why can't you all just leave me alone?" I hissed.

"Why can't you just go back to being fake on screen instead of being fake in reality?" returned Seifer. He smirked and crossed his arms. "We don't need the likes of you around. We're here to make sure that this school stays clean of snobby, stuck-up kids like you."

"Snobby? Stuck-up? You don't know anything about me!"

"You're an actress!"

"That's all we need to know, ya know?" exclaimed Rai.

Fuu looked on blankly. "Indeed."

"We're the Destiny Islands Disciplinary Committee," said Seifer. He walked up dangerously close to me. He was practically breathing down my neck. "And we're here to get rid of you and that blonde friend of yours."

On the outside, I looked angry and annoyed. On the inside, though, I was actually quite frightened. I realized then that Axel was not lying when he said there were people in school that would go after you in a threatening way.

I was speechless, and I didn't know what to do. I saw Rai and Fuu closing in on me. I was trapped, and I thought I was done for.

That is, until I felt a body come in between Seifer and me.

"Back off, Seifer," growled Sora.

Riku and Hayner then came in, staring down Rai and Fuu.

To everyone that was witnessing the confrontation, it must have looked like the ultimate stare down. No punches, no kicks, no verbal assaults; just a fight of the irises.

Seifer grunted and averted his eyes. "If you weren't so important to this school's Blitzball team, I'd have you gone in a second."

"You think you're tough for ganging up on one girl?" said Sora. "Disciplinary Committee, my ass. You're pathetic."

Rai was about to pounce on Sora, but Riku stepped in front of him and held him back.

Seifer's eyes hardened. He and Sora exchanged glares for a few more moments before he huffed and started to walk away. Without a word, Rai and Fuu followed suit.

"You think you're some hotshot, Hikari?" Seifer hollered across the hallway. "You better be watching your back from now on."

They rounded the corner and disappeared, leaving Sora, Riku, Hayner, and me in the middle of a small crowd. Olette, Pence, and Naminé walked up to us.

"Punks," spat Hayner. "They think they do this school a service for picking on people."

Sora turned to me. "You all right, Kairi?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit frustrated," I replied. In truth, though, I was a bit scared. Was Seifer going to do something bad to me? "They won't stop bothering me in class. It's like they enjoy getting me flustered."

"Trust me, we're in the same boat," said Olette, pointing to Hayner and Pence. "They don't bother us when we're in a group, though. As long as they don't catch you alone, you'll be fine."

"It doesn't help that I'm in Spanish all by myself. No one in that class talks to each other."

"We'll figure something out," said Sora. "We should get to Yen Sid's room before the bell rings. Want to go together?"

"Okay."

He looked over at Riku with a strange gaze. Riku must have read whatever visual message Sora was giving to him because he nodded and left the scene. Sora and I then departed from the group and went to our Island History class.

"Thank you for helping me out back there," I said to Sora after we sat ourselves in our usual desks.

"Don't sweat it," he said. "They always go after the people they think are better than them."

"Have they gone after you and Riku?"

"They did, during my freshman year. But because of our reputation from playing Blitzball, the whole school kind of has our backs, so they shied away from us."

"I see."

"Kairi?"

I turned to him. His eyes were worried, but his smile was confident.

"I want you to know that no matter what, we're here to protect you—me, Naminé, Hayner, Pence, Olette, even Riku—and we'll make sure that nothing happens to you."

I was taken aback. I had only been in school for less than a month, yet here was Sora confessing that he and his friends were willing to protect me.

"Thank you, Sora," I said, smiling.

He grinned back. "Now you have your own bodyguards here at school!"

I had to laugh at that one. He raised his eyebrow at my reaction. "Bodyguards? You guys don't even come close to Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret."

"Uncle Leon and Uncle Barret?"

"Yep, two of the most toughest guys to have ever lived on Destiny Islands. No matter where they go they have these weapons that make people not even attempt to come near me. Uncle Leon likes to carry swords with him, but his favorite is this big sword with a gun that is attached to it. As for Uncle Barret, he's part machine. His right hand is a gun."

Sora's jaw dropped in surprise. I smirked at him. He was probably expecting me to describe a couple of buff guys with dark sunglasses, not some dudes that had freakish weapons.

"That's pretty... Intense."

"They're only that way because they're ex-military, like my dad."

"Oh, yeah, that's right, I heard about your father being a soldier at first. That must have been a huge jump going from the battlefield to the main screen."

"He doesn't talk about it much, but when I asked him about it one day he just said that he enjoys the life that he has now, so I guess that's all that matters."

"Can't blame him. He's making all the money."

"What about your parents? What do they do for a living?"

His face completely changed. His smiled had flattened out to a small frown, and his shining eyes went dull.

"They're not really around," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well—"

The bell interrupted our conversation. Yen Sid stood up from his desk with his hand up, silencing the entire classroom.

"The bell has rung, so we shall begin our learning," he said loudly. "Please grab a textbook from the back of the room and turn to page ninety-eight. We will start our new lesson on the ancient Keyblade."

I grabbed a textbook and sat back down. I quickly glanced back over at Sora, who seemed to return to normal. I couldn't help but feel worried, though. It was the first time I had ever seen him look troubled.

That solemn expression of his plagued my mind for the rest of the period.

...

While I was taking out a folder from my locker, the conversation I had with Olette during Chemistry was replaying in my head.

_"Hey, Olette, can I ask you something about Sora?"_

_"Sure. What's up?"_

_"We were talking about my parents during Island History today. When I asked him about his parents, he was different. Does he not got along with them?"_

_Olette froze. She stopped handling the microscope to look at me._

_"You mean, he hasn't told you?"_

_"Told me what?"_

_She ignored my question. "How about Naminé, has she told you?"_

_"No, they haven't mentioned anything about their parents to me."_

_Olette started to rub her left arm. I noticed that she always did that whenever she felt sad or uncomfortable._

_"I mean, I would tell you, but I think it would be best if you asked Sora or Naminé."_

Regardless of what Olette told me to do, I asked Hayner during English. He gave me a somewhat similar answer.

_"That really isn't something for me to say," he said quietly. "You should ask Sora about it. If you ask Naminé, she might get emotional. She recently got over it, so you can say that she's a bit raw on that subject."_

I then became really worried. What were they keeping from me?

I closed my locker and looked across the hallway to see Sora standing in his usual spot as he waited for Naminé. He was talking with Riku, and from the angry looks on their faces I assumed that they were talking about what happened earlier between them and Seifer's gang.

As I walked up to them, I caught the last bits of their conversation.

"You sure you want to do something like that?" Sora asked him.

"You're my best friend, Sora," I heard Riku reply. "As much as it would bother me to do it, you know I would do a better job than Hayner. He would just flip out if they said one word to him."

They pounded fists. "I owe you one."

"Damn right, you do."

I was within a few steps of them when they turned to me. Sora's expression softened while Riku's remained indecipherable.

"Speak of the Devil and she will appear," Riku said. I frowned at that. "I'll catch you later, Sora."

"Yeah, see ya," Sora said as Riku left. Sora's smile returned to his face. "Hey, Kairi."

"Hey," I greeted. I was going to make a comment about Riku, but I decided against it. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I've been all right. Why do you ask?"

I shuffled my feet a little. "Well, during Island History, you were a bit different. If I said something that hurt you, I'm sorry."

He placed his hand on my shoulder. "Don't be, Kairi. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Did something happen between you and your parents?"

His sad eyes returned. "Not really." We heard footsteps echoing down the halls. We turned to see Naminé making her way towards us. "It might not be best to talk about it here and now. Let's walk down to The Barrel to drop off Naminé and then I will tell you everything you want to know about me."

I was supposed to call Sephiroth right when I got home from school, but I was certain that my father wouldn't mind me stalling out on that. For reasons that were unknown to me, I was very curious about the boy standing in front of me.

"Okay," I said.

"I will do that on one condition, though."

"And what is that?"

He smirked. "If I tell you everything you want to know, then you have to tell me everything I want to know."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Do I really need to? There have been plenty of small biographies about me that were released in the magazines. Haven't you read those?"

"Nope. Besides, stories are best told in person rather than on paper, which I'm pretty sure you understood from when you, Roxas, and I were at The Barrel that one day." An idea popped into his head. "Speaking of that one time, isn't it unfair that Roxas and I shared stories while you remained quiet?"

I rolled my eyes. "So what? Roxas already knows what goes on in my life."

"He does, but I don't, and I want to know."

I looked at him. He smiled at me, and I could feel my heart beating again.

Naminé decided to show up at that time. "Hey, Kairi," she said. "Roxas isn't with you?"

"No, he had to run home today to deal with some business," I answered.

"Let's get going before you're late for work," said Sora, escorting us out the door.

I was quiet during our walk down to The Barrel. Sora and Naminé brought up a few things to talk about here and there, but the entire time I was focused on my thoughts. What Naminé said that one day during Art was repeating in my head:

_"It's a bit weird, but—" she paused. She eyed the unfinished portrait and sighed. "I don't know, it's just the way he's so curious about me. I'm not sure if you know, but he sits next to me in my Geometry class. Every day I would catch him looking at me, and sometimes he would just stare for a while. Some people might find it a bit creepy, but his curiosity is just..." She blushed again and looked away. "It's intriguing."_

I glanced over at Sora. He wasn't as curious as Roxas was to Naminé, but it was because of his desire to get to know me that made me understand why Naminé felt the way she did.

She was right. It was intriguing, and for some reason it made me want to open up to him.

We dropped Naminé off at the restaurant and were standing outside its doors when Sora spoke to me.

"Anywhere specific you want to go?" he asked.

"You know the island, I don't," I stated. "You lead the way."

"Okay, then. Let's go to the pier."

"The one where the ferry drops people off at?"

"No, a different one."

He took me a few blocks down the street before we reached a small pier that looked slightly worn down from age. The boards were uneven and had nails sticking out at the edges. With every step we took a short creaking sound was emitted. Seagulls stood atop the cracked posts and scanned the beach, searching for any tiny crabs that dared to show themselves.

We arrived at the end of the pier where three wooden rafts were docked on its right side. Sora and I took off our shoes and sat down, his feet completely submerged while mine skimmed the surface. A soothing ocean breeze drifted by, and as I closed my eyes I could smell and taste the salt as it passed.

It was such a relaxing feeling. I felt like I was in a dream.

"You like it?" asked Sora. I could sense him watching me.

"It's amazing," I replied.

"Whenever I want to think, I come out here. I would unleash the thoughts in my head, and the ocean would just sit there and listen. No huge waves to take me down, no low tides that would make it shrink away forever; it just sits and listens."

There was a sad tone in his voice. "Do you come out here often?"

"During school, usually. When it's summer I'm normally at the lake."

_'So there's a lake here, too,'_ I thought. "What do you think about when you sit here?"

"My parents." He leaned over the edge and looked down into the water. "Sometimes I would check out my reflection and see my dad. My mother used to tell me that my untamed hair came from him, and she wasn't lying. His hair was really wild and spikier than mine." He was squinting now, staring at the image below. "When I look at my eyes, I see my mom. I even see her when I look at Naminé since we both inherited the blue eyes from her. Dad would always complain about how neither of us obtained the same brown eyes as he did, but I would joke with him and say that brown is too boring to be an eye color."

The way he was describing his parents made me start to think the worst. I feared the next question that I asked him. "Did something happen to them?"

He sighed. "Yeah, they died in a car accident two years ago during a storm. Because of the position of this island compared to the other ones, the storms here are terrible. If you're not careful, they can take you out, just like what that one did to my parents." He closed his eyes. "They were simply just coming home from their anniversary dinner that night. They were told to stay at the diner until the storm passed, but because of Naminé's huge fright of storms they felt like they needed to come home for her to feel safe."

I felt my heart reaching out to him. He and Naminé had been suffering the loss of their parents for two years, yet there they were in school going about life like everything was okay.

"I—I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

He smiled at me, erasing the gloomy aura that had surrounded him. "Don't be sorry. It's not like you did anything wrong."

"I can't even imagine how you two have been able to handle it."

"It was really difficult, let me tell ya. With me being fourteen and Naminé being thirteen, we had no idea what to do. We were left with a house to take care of, so the money that our parents had left was going out fast. I was forced to get a job so that Naminé and I didn't have to live in a cruddy foster home. To maintain a house here actually isn't that bad, but when you're some teenage kid with a minimum wage job that has no idea how to manage finances, you're going to have a rough start."

"Where do you work?"

"Over at this surf shop across town by another beach. My boss is pretty chill and knows about my situation, so he kind of gives me unnecessary raises under the table from time to time. I've had to take the night shift because of school, Naminé, and everything."

My eyes widened. "Do you even get any sleep?"

"You see, that's another great thing about my boss. Because no one comes to a surf shop at night, he makes me work the first two hours then let's me sleep out the rest. It used to not be that way, though. I had to really work to get him to like me as much as he does now."

"This whole thing about your parents seems like it was extremely hard for you."

"Well, with all the support I've been receiving from my friends and from the people I respect, I'd say that I've turned out okay."

He was a strong person not only in his athletic ability, but in his mind as well. I could see why Olette had said that he was a guy that was easily liked by everyone.

"Well, there's a little background information about me," he said. "Anything else you want to know before we move on to you?"

"Just some basic things. Earlier today I heard Seifer call you Hikari. Is that a nickname, or something?"

He laughed. "No, Hikari is my last name. My full name is Sora Kenneth Hikari, born on January 14th here at Kahlea Island Hospital."

"I didn't ask you about your birthday nor did I ask you where you were born!"

"It answers any future questions you might have."

I shook my head. "Got a favorite food?"

"Chocolate chip cookies."

It was my turn to laugh. I got a confused reaction in response. "Out of all the foods out there in the world, you picked cookies?"

"Hey, nothing can go wrong with a homemade chocolate chip cookie!"

"I would have gone with filet mignon."

"Is that your favorite?"

"You know it."

"Of course, the high-income actress diggin' the high-end foods. Should have saw that one coming."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Whatever."

"Speaking of rich things, what's it like being you? Tell me about yourself."

"Well, my name is Kairi Rosaline Strife, born on June 3rd at one of the hospitals over at the Big Island," I mocked him.

"You don't know which hospital it was?"

I shook my head. "There are too many hospitals on that island. It's probably on my birth certificate, but I never found it extremely important to know."

"If you say so."

"Anyways, my parents were gone a lot when I was young, so I was watched over by my maids. To keep me busy my dad placed me in improv classes, and by the time I was six I started being in commercials. As time passed I worked my way through TV shows and eventually found myself in movies. Lots and lots of traveling is involved, but after a few years on the go I started to get used to being on my feet."

"If you travel that much, then how are you going to be able to fit high school into your already busy life?"

"I've had to cancel a few things and reschedule some events to the summer time. I won't be doing a whole lot of moving around that I would normally do, but the one major thing that I'll have to do is work on this next film that's going to start in November."

"Didn't you just finish filming a movie during the summer?"

"Mmhmm."

"Wow, you are one busy bee."

"I can't help it. It's what I'm used to."

Sora shrugged. "All righty, then. What's your house like?"

"Um, it's pretty big."

Silence.

"...Really, Kairi?"

"What?"

"Is that all you're going to say about it?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

He chuckled. "You gotta give me a better visual than that!"

"There really isn't that much else to say about it. There's a circular driveway with a fountain in the front, the house sits near the top of the mountain, and there's a large wall that keeps people from falling off the cliff. That's it, really."

"Fine," he whined. "How about the Big Island? I've never been there before."

"There are a lot of things to do there. The northern side of the island, which is the side I live on, is where all the big malls and top-of-the-line stores are located. Everyone goes there to do their shopping or to walk in the few small parks that are there. There are also many resorts and hotels that line the beaches, so when you're walking on the streets doing your shopping you can't exactly look over to the beach because all the tall buildings are in the way."

"Is that all there is at your island? Just stores?"

"No, there's also an amusement park. It's on the eastern side, and the area it covers is so large that it just takes up that entire side."

He tilted his head at me. "What's an amusement park?"

"You mean, you've never been to one before?"

"Yeah, I don't think we have anything like that here."

"Oh, well, it's a huge park where people can ride these things called roller coasters that take you out on loops and twirls at fast speeds. You can also play games to win prizes, but most of them are scams so I don't play them."

Sora leaned back on his hands and started to lightly splash the water with his feet. "It sounds like you're livin' the life out there."

"With the money and all, sure, but it sucks to go out with clothes and accessories to cover you up so that the world doesn't recognize you."

"You hide yourself?"

"Yeah, if you're a celebrity you kind of have to on the Big Island. If you don't, then you'll be surrounded by reporters trying to make you say something for them to make a story up with or people trying to take snapshots of you in hopes of getting something good to post up on the Internet."

"That's pretty lame."

I felt my anger rising as I thought of Maleficent and the paparazzi, so I tried to calm myself down by thinking of something else to talk about. I diverted my attention to the three rafts that were floating next to the pier, each one held down by a tough rope.

"How come there are only three boats here?" I asked him.

"Ah, sorry, I forgot to mention that this is our pier," he said, scratching his head. "Riku and I built it along with the help from our dads, which you can probably tell from the obvious low level of workmanship this pier displays. A year after we finished the pier Riku and I built those rafts on our own. Naminé felt left out, so we decided to build one for her, too."

"Do you use them a lot?"

"Oh, yeah, probably a few times a week. School makes it harder for us to go out, but we always are able to manage some time to use them. The main reason why Riku and I built this pier and those rafts, though, was to go out to the play island over there." He pointed a little to the right. I followed his finger to the small island that I noticed when I came to Kahlea for the first time. "We had been wanting to discover that island for ourselves, and Riku was just dying to go out and have an adventure."

"What do you do over there? It doesn't seem like anyone lives over there."

"Well, that's why we called it the play island. We would go out there and just run wild, I guess. We even built a tree house and another pier, which took us a few months. There's a shack there that we also built that stores all our old toys. A year after that we created a small tunnel and a bridge from the shack that connects us to the islet with the bent tree."

_'They must have been really bored to have built all those things,'_ I thought.

"Hayner, Pence, and Olette come out there with us some times," he continued. "Their rafts are docked at the pier Hayner built on the other side of the beach. He was being all competitive and thought that he could outdo our pier, but because Pence just sits around and Olette isn't much help when it comes to manual labor, you can just imagine lame his pier looks compared to ours."

I laughed. Poor Hayner, having to do all that work by himself.

I was about to ask Sora another question until I saw a ferry arrive at Kahlea. I suddenly remembered then that I had to call Sephiroth before it was _too _too late. I didn't want to be on his bad side (even though I could assume that I already was considering that I am a Strife).

"I have to get going," I said to Sora as I stood up. I quickly slipped on my shoes. "I forgot that I have to do something right when I get home."

Sora stood up with me. "No, it's my fault. I probably distracted you with all the talking I did. I'll take you to the pier."

We walked faster than normal towards the pier. As we got closer we faintly heard the shouts coming from the man that was boarding the passengers at the ramp.

"Last call for the Big Island!" he yelled.

"Come on, we have to hurry," said Sora as he grabbed my wrist. He started to jog, and at the pace he was going at it was like he was dragging me.

"There's no way I can keep up with you!" I breathed out when I slipped from his grasp.

"Then I've got no choice."

"Huh?"

All of a sudden, I felt myself being lifted off the ground. Grabbing my legs, he positioned me on his back and I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck.

"What are you doing?" I yelled.

"Giving you a piggyback ride!" he answered with a laugh. "Hold on tight!"

And he ran. He was running so fast that I felt like I was in a car as I saw the faces of people fly right by us. He weaved and maneuvered through the small crowds so smoothly that he reminded me of some super ninja that was capable of dodging bullets.

I almost fell off one time, and I heard him wheeze.

"Don't choke me, Kairi!" he gagged.

"Sorry!"

We reached the ferry in what felt like ten seconds. He was breathing a little hard, but his face made him not look tired at all. A bead of sweat was dripping from his scalp down the side of his face.

"I think we made it," he said, letting me down. We walked over to the boarding guy and I showed him my pass.

"Please hurry, Miss Kairi," the boarding guy said. "We'll be departing in a couple of minutes."

I turned to Sora, whose breathing had returned to normal. "Uh, thanks for the lift, literally," I said to him. I was feeling a little awkward. I must have looked so helpless and ridiculous while I was on his back.

"Not a problem at all, Kai."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Kai?"

"Oh, uh, I mean—Kairi, yeah." He was blushing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to give you a nickname. It just came out."

I giggled. "Don't worry, it was just a little surprising. No one has ever given me a nickname before." I held my hand out to him. "I'll see you in school?"

He crossed his arms and smirked. "Didn't I tell you last time? That's not how girls part ways here on this island."

I was confused for a moment, but then I remembered. I dropped my hand and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him at his waist.

"That's better!" he happily said. "See you later!"

"Bye, Sora," I returned before I released him. I walked up the ramp and entered the ferry. When I went out onto the deck I saw him still standing there. He walked away once the ferry left the dock.

I leaned over the railings and sighed. I could feel the heat rushing to my checks as I remembered the feeling of being carried on Sora's back. His back muscles were very tense and firm, and his hands felt callous yet gentle on my bare legs when he was holding me up.

I shook the feeling out of my head. I had to keep reminding myself that he was just a high school boy, after all.

I liked the nickname he gave me, though. _Kai._

* * *

_-I haven't gone through and edited yet, so you might spot errors here and there.  
-I'm going to be gone over the weekend, so I won't be able to work on the next chapter for a few days. I will do my best to get it up within the next week or so._

_Thank you all for sticking with me. I honestly wasn't expecting a review because of how long I have been gone, so I really appreciate the feedback I received. I truly am sorry for my absence. I promise you that I'm not leaving until this story is done._


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